¹⁰ But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.

While living fully for the Lord applies to every aspect of our lives, it especially comes to bear in how we respond to other Christians when they live out their commitment to the Lord differently than we do. If Jesus Christ is the Lord, then why on earth would I take it upon myself to judge others, as though they were accountable to me? That is absurd—yet we so easily fall into it. The lordship of “self” continues to haunt us, for it appeals to the flesh. Remember what Paul wrote earlier, “Consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts…” (Rom 6:11–12).

The details of our passage are simple. First, the person we judge is our brother, not our opponent in a theological debate. We have the same Father, and it is from our Father that grace and peace come to us (Rom 1:7). We have the same earthly ancestor of faith, Abraham (Rom 4:11-12). We have all “received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, ‘Abba! Father!’” (Rom 8:15). As family we may disagree, but judge we should not! This does not mean we cannot make evaluations of the wisdom or appropriateness of another person’s actions. But it is not our place to pass moral judgment on another because we cannot know their heart. Like family, we should be quick to presume the other person’s right motives.

Second, the judging Paul is concerned about is a contemptuous attitude toward others we think are living wrong. This exalts ourselves as morally superior. How can we think like this, though, when we remember that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23)? We all deserve God’s judgment of death (Rom 6:23). How can one sinner be contemptuous of another sinner? We are reminded of Habakkuk’s erroneous thought, “Why are You silent when the wicked swallow up those more righteous than they?” (Hab 1:13). He made the arrogant mistake of thinking that Israel, about whose wickedness he had complained to God, was “more righteous” than the Chaldeans, whom God was going to use to punish Israel! Essentially he thought, “Yes, we are bad. But we’re not as bad as they are!” We are never so blind as when we think, “Yes, I need God’s grace, but I don’t need it as much as that other Christian. Look at how they are living!” What a tragic blindness this is.

Lord, I am humbled to be reminded that I am no more righteous in my behavior and attitude than anyone else. Please forgive me of my sinful, fleshly pride.