“Never judge others,” some say, “and always do the right thing.” But how can anyone determine the “right thing” without making a judgment?

"Judge not, lest ye be judged" (Matt. 7:1, MSV) is often misinterpreted as a prohibition against all judgment. However, Jesus is specifically warning against condemning others. The Greek word used for judgment is krino, which can mean both “to discern” and “to condemn.” Jesus urges us to avoid condemning others and instead to practice self-reflection and humility. By teaching that we’ll be judged by the same standard we use to judge others, he encourages compassion over condemnation.

What Jesus Meant by “Judge”

Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount holds significant implications for the way we live and relate with others, so we need to go deeper into Jesus’ context to understand the nuances of his judgment language.

In John’s gospel, we read that Jesus is not here “to judge the world” (John 3:17, NASB), but a few chapters later Jesus says his purpose for coming into the world is “for judgment” (John 9:39, NASB). Jesus is either making no sense, or he’s thinking about judgment from two different angles. So before we examine the context of the larger biblical narrative, let’s look at the judgment vocabulary.

The word “judge” in Matthew 7:1 comes from the Greek word krino, which can mean to discern or decide. But it can also refer to condemnation, either in a legal court setting or in our day-to-day relationships. Paying attention to context will help us know what the author means. Is Jesus saying “Do not be discerning” or “Do not be condemning”?

Here’s the BibleProject translation of the whole command in Matthew 7:1-2:

Do not judge (krino), so that you will not be judged (krino). Because with the judgment (krino) that you judge (krino), you will be judged (krino). And with the measure that you measure, it will be measured to you.

Immediately following this instruction, Jesus tells listeners how to approach someone who is behaving poorly (Matt. 7:3-6). And not long after that, he says that we can discern the true character of people by observing the kind of fruit they bear (Matt. 7:15-20).

During his time on Earth, Jesus lived what he taught, and he regularly (and rather assertively) addressed people’s harmful choices. So it wouldn’t make sense for him to prohibit us from using discernment in our relationships or the world at large.

Instead, in this context, Jesus uses krino to refer to condemning others, or treating them with judgmental contempt. He’s talking about the times we decide another person doesn’t measure up, so we look down on them or think of them as a lesser person.

An Example of Condemning Judgment

What happens when we condemn others with our judgment? Jesus’ interactions with some religious leaders, who were often quick to judge, can provide examples of the way God responds to our judgments of others.

Consider the story of a woman who anoints Jesus with costly perfume in an alabaster jar. She kisses Jesus’ feet, washes them with her tears, dries them with her hair, and finally pours the expensive, fragrant liquid over them (Luke 7:36-50). Meanwhile, Simon—a religious leader and important person around town—watches the woman. He knows of her bad reputation, and he thinks to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching him, that she is a sinner” (Luke 7:39, NASB, emphasis added).

Simon judges by what he can see on the outside and decides this woman is unworthy of Jesus’ time and attention. His thoughts condemn her. But Jesus knows both Simon’s thoughts and the woman’s love that compels her brave and vulnerable act.

So Jesus turns to Simon and responds to his hidden thoughts with a question. Imagine two debtors, Jesus says—one owes a lot and the other hardly anything, and the lender chooses to cancel both of their debts. Of the two, who will love the lender more?

“I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled,” Simon responds (Luke 7:43, NET). Then Jesus points out that, upon entering the house as a guest, Simon didn’t perform any of the customary expressions of hospitality—a kiss of greeting, water to wash his feet, oil to anoint his head. In contrast, the woman tenderly performs each of these welcoming acts with extravagant love. She recognizes her need for Jesus and, like one who is forgiven a great debt, she is compelled by her love for him.

Simon, on the other hand, does not see his need for Jesus’ forgiveness. In fact, his positive judgment of himself leads him to look down on the woman and wrongly condemn her actions.

This is exactly the kind of contempt Jesus has in mind when he tells his followers not to judge one another. And Jesus’ response to Simon highlights what he means by “…lest ye be judged.” Jesus turns Simon’s critical thoughts around and directs them back, like a mirror, toward his own life. Simon is so busy counting the woman’s flaws that he overlooks his own lack of love and his need for Jesus. With his reply, Jesus lovingly and firmly holds Simon accountable for playing God and using unequal standards to justify himself while simultaneously condemning the woman.

Jesus’ Suggestion for Judging Others

With examples like Simon, we can start to understand why Jesus gives the “do not judge” command. But what about the more basic act of judging light from dark or good from bad?

Immediately after teaching people to never judge (condemn) one another, Jesus uses a striking word picture to describe how his followers should approach each other over issues that require careful discernment:

Matthew 7:3-5 (BPT, emphasis added)

Why do you see the speck in the eye of your brother, but you don’t perceive the beam in your eye? Or how can you say to your brother, “Allow me to take out the speck from your eye,” and look, the beam is in your eye!? Hypocrite! First take out the beam from your eye, and then you can see clearly the speck in the eye of your brother.

Jesus’ words suggest that there is a time and place to speak up when we see a problem. Like Jesus, we can call out wrongdoing in ways that do not condemn or even diminish others. But notice that it isn’t until the final line of his metaphor that Jesus says anything about assessing another person’s behavior. The majority of his instruction is about the important first step of self-reflection.

Remember Jesus’ response to Simon in the story above. Jesus redirects Simon’s evaluative thoughts inward, pointing out that Simon needs to address his own issues—the metaphorical “beam” in his own eye—before he turns to evaluate someone else’s “speck,” or bad behavior (Matt. 7:5).

Recognizing, acknowledging, and addressing our own failures is a humbling process. Just like the woman who wept at Jesus’ feet, we are reminded of our deep need for God. From this place of honest humility, we are less likely to judgmentally condemn or think less of others.

The Jesus-follower approaches all others humbly and gently, always operating from a posture of forgiveness and grace. Rather than being driven by a sense of self-importance, this kind of person’s motivation comes from the love Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 13, a love that “believes all things” and “hopes all things”(1)—choosing to respect every human being as a miraculous, beloved creation of God.

The Consequences of Judging Others

Jesus is clear that his followers should not engage in condemning judgment toward others. And throughout his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus talks about how he clearly sees our inner motivations—the hidden realities that shape our lives—in a way that no else can. He takes into account our grief, our disappointment, our desire to be noticed, our worry about the future, and our sincere desire to please God.

So when we look down on another person, we act as though we can see their inner realities just as clearly. We end up playing God. And we know from the beginning of the whole story, back in Genesis 1-3, that playing God never works well. Remember how humans bring corruption and death upon themselves precisely because they try to determine right and wrong apart from God, according to what is good or bad in their own eyes. In Genesis, and in Jesus’ teaching, we can hear God saying, “As finite beings, you do not have what it takes to make such complex judgments on your own. I have built you with everything it takes to love one another deeply, so keep doing that while you leave the judging part to me.”

The Golden Rule Approach

We find the “judge not lest ye be judged” command within a larger section of teaching that Jesus sums up this way.

Matthew 7:12 (BPT)

So then, everything you desire that people do to you, so also you do to them, for this is the Torah and the Prophets.

Imagine living in a world where everyone treats everyone else (in thought and deed) the way that we all want to be treated—with fairness, kindness, generosity, and love. Rather than sizing one another up, trying to determine who is better or worse, who is good or bad, we instead choose to love one another because that’s how we want to be treated.

How would following the so-called Golden Rule change the way we judge others? What happens when, rather than being quick to judge, we are instead quick to wonder, “How do I want people to approach me when I drop the ball and fail?” Operating from this angle will temper our responses, increase our wisdom, and, most importantly, draw us deeper into strong bonds of mutual love with our neighbors.

The Golden Rule helps us follow through on God’s greatest command—to love God and love all others with everything we’ve got.

When Jesus says, “Judge not, lest ye be judged,” he’s not saying that all judgment is always wrong. He’s calling people to a new and better way of relating with one another. Instead of judgmentally condemning or looking down on each other, we can operate with the power of divine mercy that heals what is broken (rather than simply hating it). With Jesus, we can practice the Golden Rule, approaching others with the same dignity and respectful love that we also hope to receive.

1. Dallas Willard, Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life in God (London: HarperCollins, 1998), 241.