Okay so if you’ve spent any real time in church, or honestly just scrolled Facebook for five minutes, you have heard somebody pull out the do not judge others Bible verse. Usually right after they got caught doing something they had no business doing. “Well, the Bible says don’t judge!” Boom. Mic drop. Conversation over, don’t you dare say another word to me.

Except, friend, that is not even close to the whole story. And once you actually read through all six verses instead of just verse one, it gets a whole lot more interesting — and if I’m being honest, it steps on toes. Mine included, right out the gate.

What the Do Not Judge Others Bible Verse Actually Says

Matthew 7:1-2, NLT: “Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged.”

Now, this is not Jesus telling us to turn our brains off and never use an ounce of discernment again. He’s talking about that reflex, that instant little verdict we hand somebody before they’ve said a single word to us. The stranger in the drive-thru who’s taking forever. The mugshot on the local news Facebook page with forty comments deep of strangers who’ve decided a man’s whole character off one bad photo. The yard sign that apparently tells you everything you need to know about a person’s soul.

We do this constantly, y’all. And most of the time we don’t even call it judging. We call it “just being observant.”

The Speck and the Log (And Why It’s Kind of Hilarious When You Picture It)

Verses 3 through 5, this is the part everybody half-remembers. Jesus paints this picture — somebody’s got an entire log sticking out of their own eye, and they’re over here squinting at their neighbor going “hang on now, I believe I see a little something in your eye, let me get that for you.” Can’t see straight himself. Offering eye surgery with a two-by-four hanging off his face.

It is ridiculous once you actually picture it out. And it’s exactly what it looks like every single time we point at somebody else’s mess while we’re ignoring the log parked in our own front yard.

Turns Out This Isn’t a One-Time Thing Jesus Said and Moved On From

Here’s what got me putting this episode together — this is not some one-off line Jesus dropped on a hillside one afternoon and never circled back to. This runs beginning to end through the whole Bible.

Go all the way back to 1 Samuel, God’s out here picking a king, and He stops the prophet Samuel dead in his tracks for judging a man by how he looks, telling him people look at the outside, but the Lord looks at the heart. Leviticus tells folks flat out, don’t play favorites, judge fair. John chapter 8, Jesus stops an entire crowd from stoning a woman with one single sentence. Paul tells the church at Rome that judging somebody else is really just condemning yourself, since you’re out here doing the same mess. And James — James does not sugarcoat a thing — basically asks, who exactly do you think you are, judging your neighbor?

So What Do We Actually Do With the Do Not Judge Others Bible Verse

Alright, this is my favorite part, because it’s no good if we just talk about it and go on with our day doing the exact same thing. A few things I’m actually trying to live out this week:

• Catch yourself. Most of this judging happens so fast you don’t even clock it. You’re not gonna stop having thoughts about people, we’re human. But you can catch yourself having ’em.
• Check your own mirror first. Before the criticism, before the eye roll, before you’re the one washing somebody’s face with contempt smeared all over your own — glance at your own log first.
• Trade the verdict for a prayer. This one’s the real game changer. You cannot hold genuine judgment and genuine prayer for the same person at the same time. Try it and watch how fast it softens you up. It’s almost annoying how well it works.

And that last one right there is exactly why my friend JoAnne’s ministry, Prayer Action Warriors, means so much to me. Every single day at noon, she’s got a whole community of people stopping to pray the Lord’s Prayer over people instead of forming opinions about them. It is such a simple thing on paper and it does real work.

Listen to Do not judge others Full Episode

We go a whole lot deeper than a blog post’s got room for — plus I tell y’all about a man from my hometown that taught me more about judging people than I ever wanted to learn. Give it a listen.

If you’re new around here, go back and catch the episode right before this one, I Need to Clean Out My Shed, where we talked about worry and trusting God with tomorrow — it sets up a good bit of what we get into today.

And if you need something to snack on while you listen, Parmesan Crusted Chicken in Air Fryer | With Creamy Garlic Sauce is one I make on repeat on a slow Wednesday evening.

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