“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven” (Luke 6:37).
This Bible verse is one of the most quoted, misquoted, interpreted, and misinterpreted in all of Scripture. Whether we believe in Christianity or not, most of us know Jesus told us not to judge, and we love to use it to support our preferred worldview. Some take this verse to mean that Jesus was a “you do you” kind of Savior who approved every decision and lifestyle choice. Others claim that while “Christians are called to unconditional love, they are not called to unconditional approval.”[1] We may judge actions, but never someone’s heart.
Reading the gospel accounts of Jesus’s life reveals that He was not a “you do you” kind of Savior. He was a “follow me” kind of Savior. His encounters and teachings invite us to follow Him out of the world’s ways and into a new way of living.
For example, in John 4:13–14, Jesus meets the Samaritan woman at the well. He tells her, “Everyone who drinks from [the world’s] water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give will never thirst; the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” He invites her to turn to Him for her ultimate fulfillment.
In John 8, Jesus saves a woman caught in adultery from being stoned to death by a religious mob. After her accusers walk away, He tells her to go and sin no more. He invites her to step out of sin and shame and into redemption and restoration.
This is what God does. He takes people who have been beaten up by this sin-ridden world and offers them something new, just as He told us He would in Isaiah 43:19, when He proclaimed, “Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth; do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”
To understand God’s heart for His people, let us read Luke 6:37 through the same lens. He tells us not to judge, condemn, or withhold forgiveness. That’s what He said, and we should take Him at His word. But on a deeper level, Jesus invites us into a new way of looking at our lives and others' lives.
Recently, I was scrolling through Instagram when I saw a well-known Christian announce that she was leaving Christianity. I was stunned as I read her reasons and, in a very judgmental spirit, asked myself, “What on earth would possess her to walk away from Jesus when she has experienced so much of His goodness?”
The answer that popped into my mind was, “Why don’t you just ask yourself?”
I didn’t need to ask why this woman would leave Christ because I had done the same thing. As a young person, I had personal encounters with God. I had known His unconditional love for me, but this knowledge and the fact that I had experienced so much of His provision did not stop me from walking away from my faith the moment I moved out of my parent’s house. Why did I walk away? Plain and simple: because I wanted to. Who was I to judge this woman when I had done precisely what she was doing? I am not following Jesus today because I am great. I am following Him because He saved me from a life of chasing the emptiness of the world. He covered me in His mercy. He lifted me from the pit and set my feet on steady ground.
Does this woman’s decision make me sad? Yes, it does. Am I in a position to cast judgment and condemnation on her? Absolutely not. Knowing what God has done for me, my response should be to fall to my knees and beg Him to heal her broken heart and lift her out of her sorrows.
The problem with judging, condemning, and withholding forgiveness is that it hardens our hearts to the pain that others experience and fosters in us spiritual amnesia, forgetting where we have been and what God has done. We may begin to think that we are exempt from what Romans 3:23 tells us, “All of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” In truth, we have no place to judge, because we are not righteous. We cannot condemn, because we stand condemned without Jesus’s sacrifice. We must be quick to forgive, because God has been so quick to forgive us.
Judgment, condemnation, and unforgiveness come naturally to us in the spirit of the world, because the world is broken and other people’s failures make us feel better about our own. And yet, the Lord is inviting us out of the spirit of the world and into His way of living, which guards us against hardened hearts and spiritual amnesia. Instead of focusing on other people and their good or bad decisions, He invites us to keep our eyes on Him, remembering who we are and who He is. This enables us to live in freedom and gratitude for what He has done for us and to meet people with the heart of Christ, not condemning but inviting those around us into God’s abundant life.
The reality is that right and wrong exist in the world. People make good and bad decisions, and we are responsible for walking with others and leading them to the new life that Christ offers. But how will we do it?
Will we do it in the spirit of the world or in the new spirit that God calls us to live?
We will do it by keeping our eyes on Him and remembering that our lives can be a witness to the fact that all of us who were once lost can be found.
In His Heart,
Mallory Smyth
[1] Guzick, David. “Study Guide for Luke 6.” Blue Letter Bible. (7 May 2024): https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/guzik_david/study-guide/luke/luke-6.cfm?a=979037.
