Judgment is one of those things that everyone does, yet does not like it when someone passes it on them. It is an ironic process that happens because we want to put ourselves in a higher status in our mind than someone else. We even do it subconsciously and don’t even realize it. The Bible speaks about judgment in a certain light that we need to take seriously. 

Isaiah chapter 11 is a beautiful passage about the root of Jesse. Clearly talking about Jesus in this passage, Isaiah is talking about a day when all will come under the reign of Jesus at his judgment seat. The prophet declares how Jesus judges and it gives us insight into how we should be. 

“He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,

    or decide by what he hears with his ears;

but with righteousness he will judge the needy,”

Isaiah says that he does not judge by what he sees. Certain things can appear to be one way but are actually something else. When we are quick to judge merely by appearances, we do not judge rightly because more times than not, we judge wrongly. He also says that he does not decide things by what he hears because oftentimes hearing things can be deceiving and we do not know the whole situation. Jesus will judge with righteousness meaning he will judge rightly. 

Romans 2 also talks about how foolishly humans judge. Romans 2:1 says, “You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.” Paul makes a clear point that when we pass judgment on someone else, we are only condemning ourselves because we do the same things we are judging that other person for. Even if it is not the exact same thing, everyone is guilty of sin (Romans 3:23) and therefore everyone is on the same playing field. When we judge someone else for a sin, we should be reminded that we also sin and have no need to pass judgment since we are all in need of Christ’s forgiveness. Judgment is a way to put ourselves above someone else, yet all of us are on the same line with Christ as our head. 

We will all be judged one day. Whether we judge others or not, we will be judged by the same standards as everyone else. With Christ as our head, we should make an effort to bring the gospel to those who need it. Judging others for what they do gains nothing, and we only condemn ourselves when we do so. We should rather approach others in love and faith in Jesus.