When Honestly Judging Others Is Required

One of the most overused and misused King James scripture is Matthew 7:1  "Judge not, that ye be not judged." It is often used by sinners to make Christians feel guilty for saying something about the wrongness of what they may be doing.  (Even though those same sins are listed by God plainly in the Bible, it may be more prudent to pray for them, point them to salvation through Jesus, and to reading scripture rather than  trying to change them with self-righteous, angry, or condescending words.) This is not what Jesus meant.  He was saying we should not hold others to account for something we ourselves would not be willing to be accountable for.  Another way to say it is to apply the golden rule towards everyone first before calling out any preconceptions about right verses wrong.  

To reject the law is to praise the wicked; to obey the law is to fight them. 

Evil people don’t understand justice, but those who follow the Lord 

understand completely. - Proverbs 28:4-5 (NLT)

There are times when judgement must occur, especially if people have been elected to or appointed to be a judge of the law.  Judges have a grave responsibility to the law and to the people who come before them, both the innocent and the guilty. 

Here are some further sayings of the wise: 

It is wrong to show favoritism when passing judgment. 

A judge who says to the wicked, “You are innocent,” 

will be cursed by many people and denounced by the nations. 

But it will go well for those who convict the guilty; 

rich blessings will be showered on them.- Proverbs 24:23-25 (NLT)

With that judgement responsibility comes accountability to "We the People," the nation's law, and to God. In this world, we will see wise judges and corrupted ones.  Corrupt judges who lie, who take bribes, or provide false information to juries will eventually be punished by either the government  whose laws they broke or by God when eternal judgement comes.  There is no hiding their corruption.  Alterternately, their excellence and commitment to the truth will also be seen, accepted, and rewarded.