A frequent criticism of Christians is that we are judgmental. This is ironic because both Jesus and Paul told us not to judge others—and particularly those who are not Christians.

Jesus said it like this in Matthew 7:1-5, which is part of his famous Sermon on the Mount:[1]

Do not judge, so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and look, the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of you own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye!

In chapter five of his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul criticized the Corinthians because they were allowing someone to remain in the church who was having sexual intercourse with his step-mother—a gross practice even in those days. But while Paul warned them to expel that man from their church, lest he corrupt the morals of others, Paul was very clear in 1 Cointhians 5:12-13 that they were not to judge those outside the church:

For what business of mine is it to judge outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? But those who are outside, God judges.

How can this be? Aren’t Christians supposed to stand up for what is good and right, and oppose evil? Of course. But what does it really mean to oppose evil? How do we do that?

Jesus gives us a hint: “first take the log out of your own eye.” In other words, see to your own behavior instead of worrying about others.

Christians who want to condemn, persecute, or mistreat people who are different—the LGBTQ+ community, undocumented immigrants, religious or racial minorities, for example—are misguided or misinformed, because they do not know or understand the scriptures. For, as Paul said, our fight is not with other people:

Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.[2]

We are resisting the “schemes of the devil,” who wants to distract us from following Jesus Christ. Our struggle is not against other people—“flesh and blood”—but against “spiritual” forces, like Satan and his minions, who would lead us into sin and away from Christ.

We win this fight against evil by utilizing the “full armor of God,” which includes truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation, and the Spirit.[3] Judgment, condemnation, and persecution are not in that list. And while “righteousness” is in the list, self-righteousness is not.

When we rely on the Spirit, we produce the “fruit of the Spirit”: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.”[4] That is how we advance God’s kingdom, by being kind, gentle, patient, faithful, good, and loving. When we demonstrate these virtues, and have the peace of God, others will want what we have. We won’t advance God’s kingdom through judgment, condemnation, persecution, or hate.

So to those Christians who want to make life more difficult for other people, I would say this:

Please stop.

Jesus told us to love our enemies,[5] not mistreat them. The second greatest commandment is to love our neighbor.[6] And contrary to what some believe, our “neighbor” is not limited to people we know, or people we like, or even people who are like us. Our “neighbor” is anyone who needs our help, as the parable of the Good Samaritan[7] teaches.

Finally, if any Christian thinks they have carte blanche to remove specks from the eyes of other people because they have dealt with all of the logs in their own eyes, I would invite them to look at the laundry lists of sins in Galatians 5:19-21,[8] Romans 13:13,[9] 2 Corinthians 12:20-21,[10] James 3:14-16,[11] Romans 1:28-31,[12] and 2 Timothy 3:2-5.[13] If you truly think you are innocent of all of those, your problem is pride—which is also a sin.[14]

No wonder Paul said “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”[15] We all need God’s grace, and we should show God’s love and grace to everyone else, even people whom we think have big logs in their eyes.

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[1]. See also Luke 6:37.

[2]. Ephesians 6:11-12

[3]. See Ephesians 6:10-17.

[4]. Galatians 5:22-23

[5]. Matthew 5:44, Luke 6:27 and 6:35

[6]. Matthew 22:39, Mark 12:31 (see also Leviticus 19:18)

[7]. Luke 10:29-37

[8]. “sexual immorality, impurity, indecent behavior, idolatry, witchcraft, hostilities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these”

[9]. carousing and drunkenness, sexual promiscuity and debauchery, strife and jealousy

[10]. strife, jealousy, angry tempers, selfishness, slanders, gossip, arrogance, disturbances, impurity, sexual immorality, and indecent behavior

[11]. “bitter jealousy and selfish ambition”

[12]. “God gave them up to a depraved mind, to do those things that are not proper, people having been filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, and evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unfeeling, and unmerciful.”

[13]. “For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, slanderers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness although they have denied its power.”

[14]. See, for example, Mark 7:22 and 1 John 2:16.

[15]. Romans 3:23