He that well and rightly considereth his own works will find little cause to judge hardly of another. Thomas a Kempis
A Pharisee is hard on others and easy on himself, but a spiritual man is easy on others and hard on himself. A.W. Tozer
The harmlessness of the dove consists in not judging another; the wisdom of the serpent in distrusting ourselves. Madame Guyon
I will not judge a person to be spiritually dead whom I have judged formerly to have had spiritual life, though I see him at present in a swoon (faint)as to all evidences of the spiritual life. And the reason why I will not judge him so is this — because if you judge a person dead, you neglect him, you leave him; but if you judge him in a swoon, (faint) though never so dangerous, you use all means for the retrieving of his life. John Owen
I judge all things only by the price they shall gain in eternity. John Wesley
God is looking for broken men who have judged themselves in the light of the cross of Christ. When He wants anything done, He takes up men who have come to the end of themselves, whose confidence is not in themselves, but in God. Harry Ironside
In judging of others, a man laboreth in vain, often erreth and easily sinneth; but in judging and examining himself, he always laboreth fruitfully. Thomas a Kempis
When a man has judged himself, Satan is put out of office. When he lays anything to a saint’s charge, he is able to retort and say, “It is true, Satan, I am guilty of these sins, but I have judged myself already for them; and having condemned myself in the lower court of conscience, God will acquit me in the upper court of heaven. Thomas Watson
The most dangerous leap is the leap to conclusions. Woodrow Kroll
Do not then spend the strength of your zeal for your religion in censuring others. The man that is most busy in censuring others is always least employed in examining himself. Thomas Lye
But the challenge is always this: Are men and women going to allow the Word of God to sit in judgment on their puny minds, or are they going to make their puny minds the judges of the Word of God? Alistair Begg
God’s truth judges created things out of love, and Satan’s truth judges them out of envy and hatred. Dietrich Bonhoeffer
If two friends ask you to judge a dispute, don’t accept, because you will lose one friend; on the other hand, if two strangers come with the same request, accept, because you will gain one friend. Augustine
An individual Christian may see fit to give up all sorts of things for special reasons – marriage, or meat, or beer, or cinema; but the moment he starts saying the things are bad in themselves, or looking down his nose at other people who do use them, he has taken the wrong turning. C.S. Lewis
Whenever we assign people to condemnation without mercy because they do not do something the way we think it ought to be done or because we believe their motives are wrong, we pass judgment that only God is qualified to make (Jas. 4:11-12). John MacArthur
We are not to look for the evil things in others. We are not to see others through the warped glasses of prejudice and unkindly feeling. We are not to arrogate to ourselves the function of judging, as if men were answerable to us. We are to avoid a critical or censorious spirit. Nothing is said against speaking of the good in those we see and know; it is uncharitable judging and speaking, which Jesus condemns. J.R. Miller
People are not truly grieved by the sins in others, which they complacently expose and condemn. Too often they seem to delight in having discovered something unbeautiful in a neighbor, and they swoop down upon the blemish – like a vulture on carrion! If ever criticism is indulged in – it should be with deep grief for the friend, that the fault exists in him; and with sincere desire that for his sake it be removed; and then the criticism should be made, not in the ear of the world – but “between him and you alone.” J.R. Miller
In condemning and censuring others, we are thrusting ourselves into God’s place, taking his scepter into our hands, and presuming to exercise one of His sole prerogatives. J.R. Miller
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Eight reasons that ministers should examine themselves, Richard Baxter:
1. You have heaven to win or lose yourselves… A holy calling will not save an unholy man.
2. You have sinful inclinations as well as others.
3. [You] have greater temptations than most men.
4. The tempter will make his first and sharpest onset upon you. If you will be leaders against him, he will spare you no further than God restrains him.
5. Many eyes are upon you, and therefore there will be many to observe your falls.
6. Your sins are more aggravated than those of other men. They have more of hypocrisy in them, and are more detrimental to the cause of religion.
7. The honor of your Lord and Master, and of His holy truth, doth lie more on you than other men.
8. The souls of your hearers and the success of your labors do very much depend upon your self-examination.
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