DMLJ: Our Lord proves it in this way. He first of all points out that we are not concerned about righteousness and true judgement at all, because if we were, we should deal with it in ourselves.
I have been thinking of this passage off and on for a couple of months. To me it comes down to a couple of things, which you highlight in your article. First, proper judgment includes self-judgement or self-reflection. This practice is also important for humility. The arrogant person doesn't reflect on their own sin or weaknesses. The humble person is very aware of those things.
Second, when judging others you can either judge mercifully or harshly. Like you say, we don't have our own standard. The standard of judgment should always be God's Word. The issue is how we use it. We either use it to punish people and place ourselves above them in some social hierarchy. Or we extend mercy to a person even when we determine that their action is incorrect or sinful. When we are merciful we don't get angry or hurt. We pray for them sincerely. Or we let love cover it over, and we practically ignore the issue. Or we go to them with gentleness for the purpose of helping them.
I have been thinking of this passage off and on for a couple of months. To me it comes down to a couple of things, which you highlight in your article. First, proper judgment includes self-judgement or self-reflection. This practice is also important for humility. The arrogant person doesn't reflect on their own sin or weaknesses. The humble person is very aware of those things.
Second, when judging others you can either judge mercifully or harshly. Like you say, we don't have our own standard. The standard of judgment should always be God's Word. The issue is how we use it. We either use it to punish people and place ourselves above them in some social hierarchy. Or we extend mercy to a person even when we determine that their action is incorrect or sinful. When we are merciful we don't get angry or hurt. We pray for them sincerely. Or we let love cover it over, and we practically ignore the issue. Or we go to them with gentleness for the purpose of helping them.
https://mises.org/mises-wire/defining-ordered-individualism
https://thecrosssectionrmb.blogspot.com/