Passage Read: 1 Corinthians 10-11
Meditation Verses: 11:31-32
Thought
Judgment is an expression of mercy and wisdom. The goal is salvation, protection against eternal condemnation with the world. We do well to judge ourselves, individually, as carefully and strictly as possible according to the Word of God, not the ideas of men. If I judge myself carefully, no one else should need to, including God. But if someone else brings some error to my attention, it is so that God doesn't have to. But if God steps in because no one else does or I'm not listening to my brothers and sisters and His Word, then even that is for my good that I might finally hear what He is trying to say and make the change He wants me to make. He doesn't want to condemn me, but save me. But if I won't listen to Him and His discipline, if I persist in my error, in my rebellion, I run the risk of being condemned with the world. I have only this life in which to repent; if I miss the deadline, I will be lost.
Application
So judgment is for my good and I need to practice it regularly. I need to continually evaluate myself against the will of God as revealed in the Bible. I need to be open to the concerns and even rebuke of my fellow believers, because I may too easily fall into the trap of thinking too highly of myself. And if trouble or weakness or sickness or insensitivity to God's Word should come upon me, I need to be quick to identify the problem, repent and make things right so as not to miss God's grace to me in the judgment.