Matthew 7:1–5

Read the following scenarios, thinking about what kind of judgments someone might make in each situation.

• Someone invites you to a party where many teenagers will be using substances against the Word of Wisdom.

• Someone who lives according to different standards than you wants to be your close friend.

• A member of your ward does different activities on the Sabbath than your family does.

• You find out that a friend has a habit of looking at pornography.

Throughout this lesson, you will learn about judging righteously. You will have an opportunity to revisit your thoughts about these scenarios and apply what you have learned.

• What questions do you have about judging?

As you study today’s lesson, think about how you feel about judging, and listen to the promptings of the Holy Ghost. Record impressions that increase your understanding about the Savior’s teachings on judgment. Read Matthew 7:1 . This verse is often misunderstood to mean that the Savior taught that we should never judge. Now read the Joseph Smith Translation of this verse (in Matthew 7:1, footnote a).

• How does the Joseph Smith Translation increase your understanding of what the Savior taught about judging?

• What do you think it means to judge righteously?

Read the following statement:

Judgment is an important use of our agency and requires great care, especially when we make judgments about other people. All our judgments must be guided by righteous standards. Only God, who knows each individual’s heart, can make final judgments of individuals.

Sometimes people feel that it is wrong to judge others in any way. While it is true that we should not condemn others or judge them unrighteously, we will need to make judgments of ideas, situations, and people throughout our lives. …

… As much as we can, we should judge people’s situations rather than judging the people themselves. Whenever possible, we should refrain from making judgments until we have an adequate knowledge of the facts. And we should always be sensitive to the Holy Spirit, who can guide our decisions.

(Gospel Topics, “Judging Others,” topics.ChurchofJesusChrist.org)

• What words or phrases in this statement help you understand righteous judgment?

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Hand holding mustard seed.

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An old hewn oak beam or post photographed against a white background. (vert)

Read Matthew 7:2–5, looking for other teachings about judging. In verse 3, the Savior referred to a sliver of wood as a mote (see footnote b) and a large piece of wood as a beam (see footnote c).

• Why would it be difficult for someone with a beam in their eye to remove a mote from someone else’s eye?

• What do you think the Savior is teaching through the analogy of the beam and the mote?

• Why are these teachings important for us to remember?

• What can you learn about Jesus Christ from these teachings?

To see another illustration of the truths the Savior taught, watch “Looking through Windows” (2:19), available at ChurchofJesusChrist.org.

• Why might it sometimes be difficult to live according to Christ’s teachings about judging?

• How can you invite your Father in Heaven’s help, through Jesus Christ, to help you apply these principle in your life?

Choose one of the scenarios from the beginning of the lesson, or think of a similar scenario.

Sometimes, people assume that the Savior’s teachings in Matthew 7:1–5 means that we should never make judgments. President Dallin H. Oaks of the First Presidency clarified that there are some kinds of judgments that we are encouraged to make:

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Official Portrait of President Dallin H. Oaks taken March 2018.

There are two kinds of judging: final judgments, which we are forbidden to make, and intermediate judgments, which we are directed to make, but upon righteous principles. …

… Let us consider some principles or ingredients that lead to a “righteous judgment.”

First, a righteous judgment must, by definition, be intermediate. It will refrain from declaring that a person has been assured of exaltation or from dismissing a person as being irrevocably bound for hellfire. …

Second, a righteous judgment will be guided by the Spirit of the Lord, not by anger, revenge, jealousy, or self-interest. …

Third, to be righteous, an intermediate judgment must be within our stewardship. We should not presume to exercise and act upon judgments that are outside our personal responsibilities. …

Fourth, we should, if possible, refrain from judging until we have adequate knowledge of the facts. …

A fifth principle of a righteous intermediate judgment is that whenever possible we will refrain from judging people and only judge situations.

(Dallin H. Oaks, “‘Judge Not’ and Judging,” Ensign, Aug. 1999, 7, 9–11)

Ponder the following question:

• Which judgments should I make, and which should I be careful not to make?