“Judge not, that you be not judged. For what judgement you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.” Matthew 7:1-2

 “Judge not, and you shall be not judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven.” Luke 6:37

To judge something means to observe or consider something (or someone) and make a decision or have an opinion about it (or them). Sometimes we meet someone or see someone at school and quickly decide what kind of person we think they are. But the Bible tells us not to judge others. Only God is the final judge.

God and Jesus love us all. They don’t judge us by how we look, like we as humans do. They judge us on our heart and our faith and our love. They offer us forgiveness when we do judge others.

We are not to be judges. But sometimes when we compare ourselves to others, we judge ourselves. Sometimes we are harder on ourselves than anyone else would be! I might look at my soccer team and “judge” myself to be the worst player. Or I might consider my brothers and sisters and decide I am the “problem child”. Or I might see all the other students in my class and decide I am not as smart. We can judge ourselves very harshly!

And because of this we need to see ourselves like God and Jesus see us. We need to believe their promises to us: to love and care for us, to answer our prayers, to guide and protect us, to forgive us our sins, to always be with us, to give us eternal life, to give us good things and a future.

What Does Jesus Say To Me?

 Jesus says, “Let the little children come to Me…for such is the kingdom of heaven.”

Jesus says, “The very hairs of your head are numbered. Do not fear.”

Jesus says, “Your sins are forgiven you.”

Jesus says, “Whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”

Jesus says, “Follow Me.”

Jesus says, “I will give you rest.”

Jesus says, “With God all things are possible.”

Jesus says, “I go to prepare a place for you” in heaven.

With all of these promises, we don’t need to be a judge of others or ourselves; we only need to do our best with God and Jesus as our helpers.

This week draw a picture of one of the promises above. Ask your parents to guess which one you drew!

Afterwards ask your parents to share your picture as a reply to this blog so that everyone can learn about the promises of God and Jesus.