Tuesday 29/1/13

James 4:11-12 ESV

Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?

God commanded us somewhere in the Bible that we ought to admonish each other in love and gentleness. We can only take disciplinary actions when that person continually reject admonitions, even in the presence of 2-3 witnesses and elders of the church. Therefore, we must not speak evil against each other, for that means we have judged them badly. In doing so, we have violated the above commandment and caused strifes and hostility in the church.

In general, judging other people is a serious action, potentially cause strifes, hostility and unfairness. Only the judges can judge others because they know the necessary procedure to pass correct judgement. They are trained and ordained to do so. They are thoughtful and serious in their job, we are not.

Beside, we are all sinners and we all fall short in many areas. If we judge others on their fault, they can also judge us in our short comings. That causes strifes and hostilities. Love is patient, kind and forgiving. It heals and cover our sins against others. We are called to love and admonish, to exalt others to do what is good, but not to judge.

Ultimately, God is the most high judge, and He judge each person for everything we did. He will judge rightly, we will judge wrongly. As He has forgiven us, we need to forgive others, and commit the judgement and our justification to God