Matthew 7:1-6

Intro: It is in our nature to judge others and see how we measure up. We all have our tape measures and yardsticks. 

A. Matt 7:1-6, Jesus says that a yardstick will become a boomerang.

1–“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you” (v1-2).

2–How you judge someone else is how you will be judged—it will all come back around.

3–How do we avoid unhealthy judgment?

B. We must apply 
wise discrimination between right and wrong.

ILL. H A Ironside

1–Before it became
such a heated word, at its core, discrimination simply means evaluation.

2–It is not unloving to call out sin.

3–The Bible urges us to wisely discern what is good and bad. Judgment based on Scripture is considered righteous, but…

4–Unloving, unmerciful judgment measured out of our own hearts and minds is wrong.

C. We must avoid condemning others. 

1–When we are tempted to
play prosecuting attorney toward a fellow believer, we must remember: we don’t have the power to redeem anyone, so we don’t have the authority to condemn anyone either.

2–Often, our own sin will act as a filter through which we see everyone else.

3–Our own self-righteousness makes us feel justified when we see someone else’s sin.

4–But this will do more damage to our spiritual lives than we realize.

Adrian Rogers says,
“It is the hypocritical that are hyper-critical.”

5–We also judge out
of ignorance, assuming we know enough about others to hold them to a certain standard.

6–None of us is wise enough to judge another person; only God is all-knowing, so He alone is the Judge.

H.A. Ironside ILL. 

7–Where we judge others with insensitivity, our Lord is full of compassion. While we must know the difference between right and wrong and uphold that standard in our lives. 

8–We must choose to show mercy to those who fall short, because that is what we would want, ourselves.

9–If we show mercy to others, it will be shown to us.

D. Apply it to your life

1–Do you find yourself judging others harshly?

2–Remember: how you measure others will be how you, yourself, are measured.

3–10 verses later: “Watch for false  prophets… you will know them by their fruit.”
(Not judging but fruit inspectors!)

Concl: Choose mercy today.