If you have never sinned, go ahead and throw the first stone!

"Never judge a man unless you’ve walked a mile in his shoes. How many times have you judged others based on rumors and lies? How about you how many times have you been judged because of your past? Or have been criticized for doing something different or even being different? Or maybe you have felt the sting of being unfairly judged by another person when they did not even know you?

Every one has a story...and part of your story includes being judged or condemned unfairly by others...something you really have very little control over.

The challenge with being on the receiving end of judgment or condemnation is to not to let others unfair judgments shut you down. The pathway to this is forgiveness or to forgive those who make such condemnations...because that is the only way to be free of the anger and negative self-image that such condemnation can create.

Matthew 7:1-7:5  Jesus doesn’t really address this part of the equation. He’s interested in you and he wants you to realize how unhealthy it is to live a critical lifestyle, how God distains such an attitude to life. He talks in some very strong terms about judging or condemning others. But He doesn’t leave you there alone. He gives the way out of having a critical, judgmental heart.

First of all, Jesus clearly commands you not to judge.  When you see someone making a practice of self-destructive behavior and you gently bring that to their attention that is not what Jesus is talking about here.

So if you really want to apply this passage accurately in your life, you don’t stop making intelligent choices using a reasonable amount of discernment. You simply examine yourself to see if in your attitude you are condemning others.

Jesus commands you not to condemn others. In John chapter 8, Scripture gives you amazing insight into the character of God, a bunch of men are swarming
around a young woman caught in adultery. They bring her to Jesus to get him to pass judgment on her... they’re testing him. Jesus, while not disputing the law itself directly, redirects the question with his words. “If any of you have never sinned, then go ahead and throw the first stone at her!"

Don’t make judgments as though you had the right to make judgments when you’re not, truly, equipped to make judgments. And that’s the problem.  Each of the men in John 8 had sin in their lives that they were not dealing with while at the same time wanting desperately to deal most severely with the sin of another person.

When you judge another to the point of condemnation, you, expose yourself to falling. That’s why in Galatians 6:1: “Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted”.

There’s another real downside to condemning others. "Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, and criticize their faults--unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging.”

God will use the act or process of making things equal when you stand before Him face to face on the judgment day. Part of this equal process, will be your own standards of judging others. If you’re quick to condemn others or if you do so without mercy...then you should not expect much different from God.  If you prejudge others as matter of practice, you should not expect something different from God. Likewise if you do not condemn others, if you apply mercy and grace and give others the benefit of the doubt, you can rest a bit easier as you stand before God, for soon, one day, you will give an account of your life and your faith in Jesus Christ.

If you search your own heart and come clean with God about all the flaws you have, you can get on with the business of loving each other, which, by the way, is what Jesus recommends above everything for you.