Charles Spurgeon Commentary Matthew 7:1-2

"Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured unto you." — Matthew 7:1-2 (ASV)

Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

Use your judgment, of course: the verse implies that you will judge in a right sense. But do not indulge a tendency to criticize others in a censorious manner, or as if you were placed in authority and had a right to dispense judgment among others. If you impute motives and pretend to read hearts, others will do the same towards you. A hard and censorious behaviour is sure to provoke reprisals.

Those around you will pick up the peck measure you have been using and measure your grain with it. You do not object to people forming a fair opinion of your character, nor are you forbidden to do the same towards them; but just as you would object to their sitting in judgment on you, do not sit in judgment on them. This is not the Day of Judgment, nor are we His Majesty's judges, and therefore we must not anticipate the time appointed for the final judgment, nor usurp the prerogatives of the Judge of all the earth.

Surely, if I know myself rightly, I do not need to send my judgment on circuit to try other men, for I can keep it fully occupied in my own Court of Conscience to try the traitors within my own heart.

Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged: and with what measure you mete, it shall be measured to you again.

Some people are of a censorious disposition; they see nothing in others to praise, but everything to blame, and such people generally find that they are condemned according to their own wicked rule.

Other people begin to judge those who are so fond of judging. If they are so wise, and so discriminating, others expect more from them; and not finding it, they are not slow to condemn them. It is an old proverb that chickens come home to roost, and so they do. If you judge ill of others, that judgment will, sooner or later, come home to yourself.

Use your judgment, of course. The verse implies that you will judge in a right sense. But do not indulge the critical faculty upon others in a censorious manner, or as if you were set in authority and had a right to dispense judgment among your peers. If you impute motives and pretend to read hearts, others will do the same towards you. A hard and censorious behavior is sure to provoke reprisals. Those around you will pick up the peck measure you have been using and measure your grain with it.

You do not object to people forming a fair opinion of your character, nor are you forbidden to do the same towards them; but as you would object to their sitting in judgment upon you, do not sit in judgment upon them. This is not the Day of Judgment, nor are we His Majesty's judges, and therefore we may not anticipate the time appointed for the final judgment, nor usurp the prerogatives of the Judge of all the earth.

Surely, if I know myself rightly, I need not send my judgment on circuit to try other people, for I can give it full occupation in my own Court of Conscience to try the traitors within my own heart.

Judge not that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

When the Lord comes in judgment, he might almost decline to mount the throne, for he might say, "These men have already tried and condemned each other; let their sentences abide." If he were to judge us as we have judged others, who among us would stand?

But we may rest assured that our fellow men will usually exercise towards us much the same judgment that we exercise towards them.