Only God Can Judge Me by Jason G. Lutz

“But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by a human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. For I know of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this; but He who judges me is the Lord.”
‭‭(I Corinthians‬ ‭4:3-4‬ ‭NKJV‬‬)

“Only God can judge me”, no doubt each of us has heard someone (ourselves?) make said statement. No doubt each of us knows that folks (ourselves?) tend to make this statement when they (we?) have done, are doing, or are going to do something wrong, perhaps – at best – something unwise. In the Light of the Resurrection this is wonderfully true! The Lord Himself is the only judge of the faithful that matters and He is Gracious.

But if we simply stop here we only see and do not taste the fruit. Think of gymnastics for a moment. The judges can certainly give a score of 5 or 7, but they can also give a score of 10. Do you see where Paul is attempting to lead?

“Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one’s praise will come from God.”
(‭‭I Corinthians‬ ‭4:5‬ ‭NKJV‬‬)

Positive judging is still judging. It is quite natural that we dislike negative judgements but like positive judgements made about us, and we all work to avoid the former and gain the latter from those around us (don’t fool yourself you do). Our minds say what our mouths might not, “Don’t judge me! Unless it is praise, then judge a little more!”. We all want a lot of 10s and very few 5s.

Yet when we as followers of Christ go out seeking the praise, affirmation, and good opinion in the fallen world around us we become obedient to it’s demanding, ever changing, and often contradictory will. We must get our minds around this reality: in this life we will not be praised when we deserve it and we will be criticized when when don’t deserve it. What’s more, human praise and criticism are both often misleading and wrong. And yet! The praise we will receive from our Father in Heaven is superior in every way.

Grace be with you,

Jason