I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.

Judgment is a curious thing. Many times the people doing the judging are the ones who need to look at themselves first. Having good judgment often refers to being able to assess the situation and understand what you can do differently to make it better, while also seeing through deception and lies.

Paul gives us a model for how to deal with judgmental people. First, we must point them to God as the ultimate Judge. Second, we are to be humble. Paul does this by stating he doesn’t even judge himself. He doesn’t take credit for his accomplishments or abilities. Instead, he leaves the judgment to the Lord. By making this statement, he’s also indirectly recommending that the Corinthians do the same thing.

He also states that he doesn’t put a lot of weight in other people‘s judgment. This is a mature stance as a Christian. We need to think about how much weight we put on other people’s judgments of us. We live for God first and foremost as Christ-followers. He should be the one we seek to please and are to be loyal to.

And finally, Paul states that we should not judge things too early or too quickly. Instead, we should leave final judgment to God. This does not mean we don’t use good judgment in life. What it does mean is that we don’t label people as too far gone to be saved, or create divisions in the church because we like or don’t like certain people. We can call others out for false teaching, and for behavior, but we cannot judge people as to their eternity.

Lord, thank you for this passage that clearly helps us understand how to deal with judgmental people, and how to not be judgmental ourselves. Teach me to focus on how I can change first: How I can be more loving, how I can be more caring, and how I can be more thoughtful and compassionate?