Encouragement Section

Judging

Romans 2:1-4

You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. ² Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. ³ So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? ⁴ Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?

We're studying the book of Romans this year and this last week we went over Romans 2:1-16.  I thought the first the first four verses were very impacting.

Paul is talking to the Jews, and in today's culture that would be the religious/churched people, in this section.  In the previous chapter he had just talked about the people who were steeped in sin.  And the Jews/religious people were probably saying, "Yeah preach it Paul!"  But then Paul turns to them and says you are no better.

How often do we do this?  Judging others when we aren't perfect either.  A question Eric and I asked our students that we would encourage you to reflect on too was...
In what ways are you struggling to judge others?

It's interesting to reflect on what we base our judgments on, and what God's bases His judgments on.  Ours are usually based on assumption of their motives or conclusions we've made on our own.  And in verse 2 it says God's judgment is based on truth.

Now what is the difference between not judging, but also not falling into the trap of being OK with what everyone is doing?  (Galations 6:1 Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently.)  Judgment is condemning the person and discernment is helping a believer see a sin they're trapped in, because you care for them and want their best.

So, how do we confront believers in sin?  If we look at the verses above, the better question is, how does God approach it?  The end of verse four says, "God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?"  As God comes to us in kindness to turn us from our sin, so should we to our brother or sister. (You do not need to point out every sin, it's when they're caught in a sin and aren't getting out.)

Repentance is not just being sorry for our sin, but it is a turning away from.  If you struggle with judging (as we all do) an example of a turning away would be replacing your judgmental thoughts with prayers for the person you're judging or a verse that would replace those thoughts, etc.

We hope this is an encouragement to you! :)