Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Christian Crier

Home
About

Home
Evangelical
Top 7 Bible Verses For Those Feeling Judged

Top 7 Bible Verses For Those Feeling Judged

Last updated on: February 17, 2016 at 2:38 pm by Jack Wellman

Top 7 Bible Verses For Those Feeling Judged 2016-02-17T14:38:30-06:00 Jack Wellman

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Here are seven Bible verses for those who feel they are being unfairly judged.

First Corinthians 4:3-5 “But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God.”

The Corinthian church may have been the most carnal, or fleshly church of them all because the Apostle Paul kept writing about their boasting about their gifts and judging one another. Paul was saying it wasn’t a small thing at all to judge him because he didn’t even judge himself. Paul knew he had been acquitted when he trusted in Christ. His point was to leave judgment up to God for nothing’s hidden from Him and even the thoughts, intents, and motives of the human heart are like an open book to God (Heb 4:13) so we need not judge others.

Romans 14:4 “Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.”

Paul points the judging question back to the Roman Christians. He asks them, “Who were they to judge,” because the person they’re passing judgment on is going to stand before God and not before them. God is able to make them stand and they will be upheld before God if they have repented and trusted in Christ. The point is, they will stand or fall before their own master, not before us.

John 7:24 “Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”

How easy it is to judge by appearances…and most often, we judge wrongly. Only God can look into the human heart to judge someone (1st Sam 16:7). We don’t have that ability but we can judge the actions or fruits of others for evidence of conversion and there should be some evidence at least since “The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2nd Cor 5:17b). The point is that we should treat everyone we meet with respect and “not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares” (Heb 13:2).

Luke 6:42 “How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.”

Jesus was not teaching the disciples to not discipline a sinning brother because in fact that is just what He taught (Matt 18:15-21), but rather, if they had a greater sin in their own lives, what gave them the right to try and complain about a speck of sawdust in someone else’s eye? If we take the beam out of our own eye, we can see a lot better because the beam may blind us to our own faults and sins and thus, give us poorer vision in which to judge others.

Romans 2:1-4 “Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?”

Paul may be speaking to unbelievers as well as the genuine Christians in Rome, because then, just as now, the church is composed of a mixture of believers and unbelievers and so he appears to be writing to both groups. This may explain why he writes, it is “because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed” (Rom 2:5) but we know that “God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1st Thess 5:9). Jesus said there would be tares growing up alongside the wheat and not to pluck them out, lest they take some of the wheat (Matt 13:29). Paul’s point is to leave judgment up to God but it’s far worse for those who judge others for what they themselves are doing (Rom 2:3).

Luke 6:43-44 “For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush”

If you’ve ever read 1st John chapter 3, it might make you might think about Luke chapter 6 because their message is very similar. For one thing, the mouth reveals what’s in the heart. Words are like buckets drawn from the cistern of the human heart and it’s either sweet, refreshing water or bitter cisterns that are harmful to drink. Jesus tells us that “The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45).

Romans 14:12-13 “So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.”

On the day of our death, having previously repented and trusted in Christ, we’ll receive our rewards from Christ Himself. For those who have never believed, Paul wrote to them then, and he writes to those today, that it was “because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed” (Rom 2:5) and most certainly, “He will render to each one according to his works” (Rom 2:6).

Conclusion

If you have been unfairly judged, then don’t feel bad. You are not alone. Many people judge us by what they see or by what they hear us say or write, or by what others say, but God alone knows our heart and His opinion is the only one that counts. If you’ve trusted in Christ, you shouldn’t care what the world thinks. Rather, think about those who are judging you who are not yet saved. Their judgment is abiding on them right now (John 3:18, 36b), therefore you must warn them of the wrath to come. The greatest act of love is to be willing to be hated, scorned, called names, and despised in order that some might be saved from the coming wrath of God that is coming upon all unrepentant sinners (Rev 21:8).

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren Church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.

Previous Post

February 17, 2016

Top 7 Bible Verses For Those Feeling Homesick

Next Post

February 17, 2016 What Is Lifestyle Evangelism?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Bible Answers Bible Definitions Bible Story Bible Study Bible Verses Christian Books Christian Entertainment Christian Fathers Christian Mothers Christian Quotes Devotional Famous Christians Music News Parables Prayers Quotes Sunday School Lesson Uncategorized Youth Sermons

Select a Month October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

How did Saul die?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Killed by Philistines Fell on his own sword Stoned by Israelites Died of old age