Judge carefully

“He told them, ‘Consider carefully what you do, because you are not judging for man but for the Lord, who is with you whenever you give a verdict. Now let the fear of the Lord be upon you. Judge carefully, for with the Lord our God there is no injustice or partiality or bribery.’” 2 Chronicles 19:6-7
There are times when we may be called upon to judge between two people. It might be settling a squabble between your children, or it may be in a legal court. Whatever the case, we must always be careful to give the best judgement that we possibly can. The reason? Judgement ultimately belongs to the Lord, and so when we judge, we are acting as His representative. To make a judgement that is right in the eyes of God, we need wisdom. We also need to know Him, through His Word. We need to bear in mind that one day He will judge us, and there are certain things that we do that will be given closer scrutiny. Teaching is one (James 3:1), and judging is another (Matt. 7:2).
We must make our judgement on what God says is right, not what man says is right. What man says is right is continually changing, as the morals of society decline. What God says is right never changes, because God never changes. One of God’s primary characteristics is that He is just. His judgements are always completely fair. He does not show partiality or favouritism. He pays no attention to those who would try to entice Him to lessen their sentence, pointing to their good works. So next time you have to make a judgement call, remember this; ask the Lord for wisdom and to show you what He would judge in the situation.