don't judge a book by its unbrushed hair.

James 2:1 My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. 

2 For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in,  3 and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, "You sit here in a good place,"while you say to the poor man, "You stand over there," or, "Sit down at my feet," 

4 have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

Imagine this: you are a retail sales person whose job is to walk around and sell computers to customer on the floor. Two men walk in at once. On his on a suit and tie with combed hair and a neatly trimmed beard all the other looks slightly disheveled with the dirty t-shirt and not-quite-brushed hair. Whom do you approach first? Do you assume that the man in the suit has more money and therefore is more likely to actually buy the computer and talk to him? Or do you worry that the poorer looking man might be more apt to steal merchandise and attend to his needs first?

In doing this, you were judging and showing favoritism, something that James 2:1–4 specifically warns against. After presenting a similar scenario, James asks, "have you not discriminate among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?"

Matthew 7:1–2 says, "judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you." If you judge others, then people will hold you to the same standards, which is something that I'm sure you don't want.

Also, the Bible tells us that God is the only just to judge, and by taking his job into our own hands, we are saying he is not good enough at his job. Jesus is the only person who was ever sinless, and therefore can be the only one who can judge without being hypocritical.

It is so hard to be around people all the time and not judge them, but the message of this passage is quite clear: we should not judge others.

Answer This:

1) In what areas of your life are you struggling with judgment?

2) What could you do instead of judge these people?

3) My brothers, show no _____________ as you hold the _____________ in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.

4) Spend some time journaling about this passage.

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Written by Hannah Pergolizzi