3 I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. 4 My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. 5 Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.
Really powerful verses that elaborate on what we should think about judgment in the future, particularly before Jesus, but I love the way Paul puts this. He just says, listen, I’m not going to be judged by you or any human court. This is so good to know, isn’t it?
I think about times where in my own life I have been criticized, even for something that I believed was right. It’s been a good reminder in the moment that my critics are not my judge, that no other human is my judge. No human court is going to judge me. Jesus is going to judge me.
In Jesus, we have a reason to be very glad that He is our judge and I love what Paul goes on to say. He says, “In fact, I did not even judge myself.” How huge is that? Going back to thinking about when I have received criticism, I start justifying myself and start trying to defend myself even if not publicly, like internally, just in my own thoughts, just saying why I’m right and why my critics are wrong or this or that.
I hope this is an encouragement to you and really a challenge to us all that we don’t live for other’s approval. We don’t live even for our own approval. We live for the approval of one, our judge, and his name is Jesus. As Jesus will be our judge we should not judge others because Jesus is the only one who can judge.
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Application:
Pray the prayer below everyday for a week and see if it helps you to change your focus.
Prayer:
Help us Jesus to keep our eyes fixed on you, so we don’t get caught up in the criticism of others or desiring applause from others, or even being consumed with what others think but help us to be consumed with, and to think all the time about Jesus. So, we pray God, help us to live with a single-minded focus on Jesus as our judge.
Live to please you alone. May it be so today. Help us to live, to please you alone. Above all. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.