John 7:24 "24 Stop judging by outward appearances, and start judging justly.”
If you are not judging at all then you are disobeying God's command to know them by their fruit.
Matthew 7:15-20
You Will Know Them by Their Fruits
15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.
19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them."
If you are judging someone by their status, their clothing, their accomplishments, then you are judging wrongly.
What do we judge then?
We judge by the fruit of the Spirit, the character qualities of Christ. Here they are:
Galatians 5:22-23
"22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."
Those who have Spiritual discernment will be able to judge properly by seeing the Spirit of the man or lack of the Spirit of God.
1 Corinthians 2:14
"But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised."
1 Corinthians 2:11
"For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God."
God said that only the Holy Spirit can discern a man's heart and that Holy Spirit lives in us. Therefore we can discern by His Spirit the heart of a man. Those who say we cannot know are correct, but God knows and He tells us through His Spirit. The unsaved, unregenerate man can't discern the heart of a man, he sees life only in terms of his own fallen understanding. But the believer who is indwelt by the Holy Spirit is able to discern many things unsaved people cannot.
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