Are we prepared to live by our own standards? If the way you internally judge others was measured back to you externally by others, you would be totally crushed and exasperated! And if the severity of judgment from others is a painful thought, consider the severity of God’s judgment applying to you the same standard you apply to others. The parallel verse of Matthew 7:1 in Luke says, “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned” (Lk. 6:36-37). In James 2:13 we read, “For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy.” On the contrary, the Fifth Beatitude states, “Blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy” (Mt. 5:7).