Today’s Devotional: “The Criticizer”

I was recently asked what one of my favorite lines from a movie is, and to most people’s dismay, it’s “I’ll be back,” from The Terminator. When he comes back in Terminator 2, even though it’s called “Judgment Day,” Arnold returns as a good guy to save humanity’s future.

And that’s not a bad way to come back. But if there is one person that I don’t want to come back, it is “The Criticizer.”

The art of being wise is knowing what to overlook. Judgment and criticism say more about who we are than about those we judge or criticize.

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (Matthew 7:1-2)

Criticizers are deadly and cause great harm not only to the individuals they judge and criticize but also to the church, which represents Jesus here on earth.

Jesus, therefore, is dealing with the judgmental and critical spirit that exists within the church. So serious is criticism and judgmentalism within the church that Jesus pulls no punches and says they will be judged in the same way they judge others.

These critics are self-righteous, spiritually blind, self-deceived, and lack Christ-like love. As such, they are hypocrites and abuse the gospel of grace they say they proclaim.

The type of judgment Jesus addresses in our passage is condemning, censorious, and faultfinding. It is criticism of others without comparable self-criticism or self-correction.

It’s called the law of equal weights. The same measure we use to judge will be used to judge us. But what’s even scarier is that the Lord measures it out against us. Therefore, we’d better show a whole lot of love and compassion toward those who have fallen on hard times and help restore them instead of rejecting them.

James gives us this law of equal weights, saying, “For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.” (James 2:13)

The church suffers from a judgmental and critical spirit. Therefore, we are to restore, not criticize. We are to be compassionate, not censorious. We need to lift people up, not push them down, and we need to speak words of kindness and love, not negative and destructive words.