166: 16-03-2025 The Jesus Manifesto (Part 30) The Problem with Judging

Only God knows the motives of a person and therefore “the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart'” (1 Samuel 16:7). The problem with our means of judging others is that we so often do this through the lens of our pride and prejudice. This has always been the case throughout history. Jesus saw it even within the disciples he chose, the Pharisees judged wrongly because of their pride and prejudice, and we see it still as the major problem of people's judgements today. Jesus also reminds us that there are times to judge, or demonstrate discernment in matters. One way that enables us to be discerning is through self-reflection. This is a valuable tool, especially when we are guided in our self-reflection through the prompting of the Holy Spirit – we get a clearer picture of the reality of things and the Holy Spirit helps us to “look beneath the surface so you can judge correctly.” (John 7:24). Matthew 7:1-5 and John 7:14-24