“Judge not” (Matthew 7) may be one of the most quoted—and most misunderstood—sayings of Jesus. It’s often used to suggest that calling anything “sin” is itself sinful. But that reading collapses under its own weight. After all, if it’s wrong to judge, then declaring someone “judgmental” is…a judgment. The command would become impossible to apply without violating it. If someone judges you as judgmental, aren’t they being judgmental about you being judgmental?

Jesus isn’t forbidding moral discernment. In the same passage, He warns about “false prophets” and teaches that people are known by their fruit. That requires evaluation. So, what kind of judging is He condemning?

The parallel account in Luke 6 gives clarity: “Judge not, and you will not be judged…forgive, and you will be forgiven.” The issue is not recognizing sin, but how we react toward sinners—especially when they sin against us. To “judge” in this sense is to demand strict justice without extending mercy. It is a harsh, condemning spirit that holds others to a standard we are unwilling to apply to ourselves.

If we abandon the ability to call anything sin, we also lose the ability to forgive. Mercy only makes sense where wrongdoing is real. Luke 6 calls us not to blindness, but to grace—to a way of dealing with sin that reflects the mercy we ourselves have received. Overlooking a debt that our neighbor is unable to pay is not an endorsement to encourage stealing.

“Do not judge,” then, is not a command to silence truth but a command to season truth with mercy.

If you’d like to learn more about tempering judgment with mercy and grace, take a moment to read this segment entitled “The Spiritual Need to Forgive Others” available on the United Church of God website.

Do Not Judge
By Lynn Leiby
Apr 26th, 2026