Judgmental much?

I'm sure you've heard this quoted to you many a times..."Judge not" (I picture a finger wagging back and forth as that statement is being said). Yes, many love to play that card, and mainly play that card against Christians.
The verse they're sometimes unknowingly quoting is Matthew 7:1. And yes this verse leads into Jesus warning against hypocrisy, because of course no one likes a hypocrite. And we know ultimate judgment is up to God. Another saying people say "only God can judge me." That saying is not from the Bible in those exact words but it is true, God will be judging us all. It's funny how people use that statement to justify their actions instead of really understanding that one day they're going to stand before a righteous God to whom they will have to answer. If they truly understood what it meant that "only God can judge me", they would be more careful in their actions.

Anyways, can a Christian judge at all? Well John 7:24 says "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment." So here we are being called to judge, so is there a contradiction?
I think not! God does not contradict his words, only those who do not study their scriptures well will think so. In Matthew it does say in verse 5 "Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye." We clearly see that in Matthew 7 the clause to judge is to fix the issue within yourself first so that you would be able to offer good judgement to others. If we've struggled with something and then went to God for help to fix it then notice someone else struggling with the same thing, at that point we'd be more qualified to offer help to our brethren.

Also, John 7 tells us to judge righteous judgment and not according to the appearance which is contrary to how the world judges and we can only exercise this with God's word. Righteous judgement comes from God's word as he is the only one that is righteous. So right judgement is based on what God has stated in his word and that would be why so many quote "judge not" because they don't want to hear God's word. But we must use righteous judgment to ensure we're living as we should and making ourselves more like Christ.

God is the one that will judge us to Heaven or Hell, but his words tells us how we send ourselves there by our decisions. If we believe, trust, accept and follow Jesus we will be in Heaven and any other decision will result in Hell. A Christian uttering that truth comes across as judgmental to those who hate that truth. But it's Gods word and us repeating what God says is not our judgement but Gods. If it is called for, we must stand for the word of God and if it comes across as judgmental that is an internal issue for the hearer and not the Christian. As with anything with God, our intention should be good and pure. If we're trying to spread the Gospel as Jesus commanded us, then press on (or judge on according to the naysayers).

Also we find in Matthew 12:33 we should be judging actions internally for our benefit. If we notice someone saying one thing but then producing negative fruits, for our spiritual state, we must stay clear. Discernment and wisdom to judge situations and people are tools for the Christian to use for themselves and their growth in God.

Judge not unless you're speaking Gods truth to further the Gospel to save souls. Or if you're judging a situation for the betterment of your spiritual state. Otherwise, God will be the ultimate judge of all.