Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.

Luke 6:37-38 – Scripture Of The Day (Jan 1, 2014 – one day late…sorry)

Contextually, this is Luke’s parallel of Matthew’s famous “Judge not lest ye be judged” passage (Matt. 7:1-5).  A careful reading of that passage, along with other passages such as John 7:24 and 1 Corinthians 5:12-13, shows that Christ is not condemning judging per se (a command which would be impossible to obey; if you tell me I’m wrong to judge you, you yourself just judged me).  Rather, he wants us to examine the WAY we judge others.  Hypocritical, unmerciful judgment by us will lead to God and others judging us the same way, and rightly so.  Righteous, merciful judgment which is quick to forgiven when repentance is shown (Luke 17:3-4), given by humble Christians who are not only aware of their own faults but are actively working to overcome them, is pleasing to God.