How Should Christians Judge and Correct Others?

Jesus does not teach us to ignore sin or abandon accountability. He teaches us to examine ourselves first and handle correction with humility, wisdom, grace, and a genuine desire to restore.

What Does Jesus Mean When He Says, “Do Not Judge”?

Matthew 7 begins with one of the most misunderstood statements in the Bible:

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged.”

Those words are often used as though Jesus is saying Christians should never evaluate behavior.

Never confront sin.

Never hold one another accountable.

Never say something is wrong.

But that cannot be what Jesus means when we read the rest of the passage.

Jesus is not removing accountability.

He is correcting the way accountability is handled.

He is confronting hypocrisy.

Pride.

Double standards.

And our tendency to see somebody else’s faults much more clearly than we see our own.

Jesus Makes Us Look in the Mirror First

Most of us are better at giving advice than receiving it.

We can often see exactly what someone else needs to change while overlooking what God may be trying to change in us.

So Jesus turns the mirror toward us.

Before I correct someone else, have I allowed God to correct me?

Before I point out someone else’s sin, have I examined my own heart?

Before I speak, have I examined my motives?

And if correction is necessary, is my goal restoration?

Or am I simply trying to prove that I am right?

How and why we say something can matter just as much as what we are saying.

The Measure We Use Matters

Jesus says:

“For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

One of the easiest things in the world is to be harder on someone else than we are on ourselves.

We know the whole story behind our own decisions.

We know what we were feeling.

What happened before.

What pressure we were under.

What we intended.

Why we responded the way we did.

But when it comes to someone else, sometimes all we see is what they did.

Before long, we can begin holding everyone else to a standard that we quietly excuse ourselves from.

Let the Same Truth Speak to You First

Jesus is not saying truth does not matter.

He is not saying sin should never be addressed.

He is saying that if we are going to speak truth into somebody else’s life, we had better be willing to let that same truth speak into ours.

It is much easier to say:

“They need to change.”

than it is to pray:

“Lord, is there anything in me that needs to change too?”

It is easier to see somebody else’s pride than our own.

Their attitude rather than ours.

Their compromise rather than ours.

Their harshness rather than ours.

But Jesus says the measure matters.

Do I Want Grace for Me but Judgment for Them?

If I demand patience from everyone else but refuse to be patient myself, there is a problem.

If I expect honesty from everyone else while making excuses for my own half-truths, there is a problem.

If I want grace when I fail but have none to give when somebody else does, there is a problem.

That is why accountability has to begin with humility.

Before I correct someone else, I need to be willing to let God correct me first.

Because accountability without humility quickly becomes hypocrisy.

The Speck and the Plank

Jesus gives us an unforgettable picture.

He asks:

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?”

A speck is tiny.

A plank is massive.

The picture is almost humorous because it is so exaggerated.

Imagine someone with a giant plank sticking out of his own eye leaning close enough to inspect a tiny speck in somebody else’s.

Jesus is exposing how ridiculous hypocrisy really is.

We can become so focused on what is wrong with someone else that we lose sight of what God is trying to show us about ourselves.

What We Minimize May Be Obvious to Everyone Else

A speck can be difficult to see from across the room.

You have to get close.

But a plank?

Everybody can see it.

Sometimes the very thing we minimize in ourselves may be far more obvious to everyone else than we realize.

We say:

“It’s not that big of a deal.”

“No one notices.”

“That’s just how I am.”

“I have it under control.”

But Jesus shows us that what we excuse in ourselves may be exactly what other people see most clearly.

Pride Makes Us Experts on Everyone Else

Pride says:

“I’m not wrong—they are.”

Humility says:

“Lord, show me what I need to see.”

Before I become consumed with fixing someone else, I need to let God deal honestly with me.

That does not mean the other person’s problem is imaginary.

Jesus acknowledges there really is a speck.

The issue is that the person with the plank is trying to correct someone else while refusing to deal with something much larger in himself.

Being Right Does Not Automatically Make Us Right

I may correctly identify a problem in someone else.

And still approach it with the wrong heart.

I can speak truth with pride.

Be technically accurate and spiritually immature.

Say the right thing in the wrong spirit.

That means being correct about somebody else’s behavior does not automatically mean I am handling the situation correctly.

First Deal With the Plank

Jesus says:

“First take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

That word first matters.

Jesus does not say:

“Ignore the speck.”

He does not say:

“Mind your own business forever.”

He says:

First deal with the plank.

First let God search your heart.

First repent where you need to repent.

First let Him deal with your attitude.

Your motive.

Your pride.

Your bitterness.

Your compromise.

Then you will be able to see clearly enough to actually help someone else.

Biblical Correction Should Be Gentle

Think about removing something from someone’s eye.

You would not charge toward them and start digging around carelessly.

The eye is sensitive.

You would move slowly.

Carefully.

Gently.

That is a powerful picture of biblical correction.

Galatians 6 teaches that if someone is caught in sin, those who are spiritual should seek to restore that person gently.

Two words matter:

Restore.

Gently.

The goal is not embarrassment.

Not winning an argument.

Not making someone feel small.

The goal is helping them see clearly again.

Correction Should Heal, Not Wound

There is a difference between correction and attack.

There is a difference between saying:

“I love you enough to talk with you about this.”

and approaching someone as though they are the enemy.

If our goal is restoration, our method should reflect that goal.

Grace does not remove truth.

Grace changes the way truth is delivered.

Jesus Is Not Telling Us to Abandon Discernment

Jesus also says:

“Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs.”

At first, that can sound like He changed subjects.

He did not.

He has just warned against hypocritical judgment.

Now He makes it clear that He is not telling us to abandon discernment.

Not everyone is willing to receive truth.

There is a difference between someone who is struggling and someone who is hardened.

There is a difference between someone who needs patience and someone who only wants to argue.

Truth Should Not Be Forced on Someone Who Only Wants to Mock It

Jesus is not giving us permission to insult people or treat them as though they have no value.

He is teaching wisdom.

Sacred truth should not continually be forced on someone who has made it clear that they intend only to mock it, reject it, or trample it underfoot.

So Jesus teaches both humility and discernment.

Do not judge hypocritically.

But do judge wisely.

Examine yourself first.

But do not become spiritually naive.

Correction Should Be Relational Before It Becomes Public

Jesus gives practical instruction elsewhere in Matthew:

If a brother or sister sins, go to that person directly.

That means correction should usually begin relationally.

Not publicly.

We do not need to broadcast somebody’s failure.

We do not need to gather a group of people who agree with us before we have even spoken to the person involved.

We go because we care.

And the goal is to win them back.

Tone Matters

Proverbs tells us:

“A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”

Sometimes people become defensive not only because they do not want to hear truth.

Sometimes the truth was delivered in a way that immediately put them on the defensive.

We can say the right thing in the wrong spirit and then wonder why it did not produce the result we hoped for.

Truth matters.

But tone matters too.

Biblical Correction Is About Restoration

Church discipline and biblical correction can be difficult.

People do not always want their thinking challenged.

Their behavior challenged.

Their theology challenged.

And sometimes when discomfort comes, the easiest response is simply to leave.

There are legitimate reasons to leave a church.

But changing churches does not automatically change the heart.

If the issue is never dealt with, the baggage travels too.

Different building.

Different pastor.

Different worship style.

Different denomination.

Same offense.

Same bitterness.

Same pride.

Same unwillingness to receive correction.

A Teachable Heart Is Willing to Ask

Loving correction may sting.

That does not automatically mean it is harmful.

Sometimes the people who love us most are the people willing to tell us what we do not want to hear.

A teachable heart does not assume every correction is right.

But it is willing to stop long enough to ask:

“Lord, is there something here You want me to see?”

Because we cannot grow beyond the places where we refuse to be corrected.

What Kind of Church Should We Be?

Do we want to be a church where everyone is afraid to say anything?

No.

Do we want to be a church where people attack each other every time someone gets something wrong?

Absolutely not.

We want to be a church where:

Truth can be spoken.

Correction can be received.

Repentance is normal.

Grace is abundant.

Restoration is the goal.

That kind of church does not happen accidentally.

Humility Is Required on Both Sides

The person bringing correction needs the right heart.

The person receiving correction needs enough humility to listen.

A healthy church is not a church where nobody ever needs correction.

A healthy church is one where correction is handled biblically, lovingly, and in a Christlike way.

Spiritual maturity requires us to know the difference between truth and error.

Repentance and rebellion.

Genuine discipleship and something that merely looks spiritual on the surface.

The Cross Removes Our Right to Be Arrogant

None of us can approach somebody else’s sin correctly unless we remember how Jesus has dealt with us.

The cross removes our right to become arrogant about another person’s failure.

Why?

Because the cross reminds us how much grace we needed too.

We are not standing above someone else as though we never needed mercy.

We are standing beside them as people who have also been forgiven.

Restored.

Changed by Jesus.

Extend the Same Grace You Have Received

The grace we receive is the grace we should extend.

That does not mean ignoring sin.

It does not mean calling wrong right.

It means remembering how Jesus dealt with us.

He told us the truth.

But He did not throw us away.

He corrected us.

But He did not humiliate us.

He gave us room to repent.

Grow.

And be restored.

Look in the Mirror First

Maybe the first question Jesus leaves us with is not:

“Who do I need to correct?”

Maybe it is:

“Lord, what do You need to correct in me?”

Is there a plank I have been excusing?

An attitude I have justified?

Pride keeping me from receiving correction?

And when I do need to speak into somebody else’s life, is restoration really my goal?

Before I try to remove the speck from somebody else’s eye:

I need to be willing to look in the mirror first.

Truth, Humility, and Restoration

Jesus does not call us to abandon truth.

He calls us to handle truth with humility.

He does not call us to ignore sin.

He calls us to deal with sin without hypocrisy or cruelty.

And He does not call us to correct others so we can prove ourselves right.

The goal is restoration.

So our prayer should be:

“Lord, search my heart.”

“Show me what I need to see.”

“Give me humility to receive correction.”

“Give me wisdom to offer it rightly.”

“And give me grace to always make restoration the goal.”

Want to Keep Exploring Jesus’ Teaching?

Continue through our Kingdom Living series, watch the message, or join us this Sunday at Victory Christian Center in Phillips, Wisconsin.