Accusing and Bearing False Witness

Accusing and Bearing False Witness

There is a serious need to address Yahweh’s requirement for righteous judgment amongst the people of this age. Righteous judgment is needed in society, in the assembly, and in our homes. 

Today, we live in a society of instant everything. Everything from instant meals to instant news and information. With this is a tendency even among brethren to be too instant in judgment of others. The danger of this is bearing false witness against our neighbor. This is an important matter–important enough to be included in the Ten Commandments

Of course, many of us have been taught that to bear false witness means “Not to lie”. But while this is true, we will see that this commandment has a shade to it that is more precise than just telling a lie. 

Exodus 20:16- You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 

What does it mean to be a false witness against our neighbor? Here is one example in scripture:

Deuteronomy 19:16- “If a false witness rises against any man to testify against him of wrongdoing, 17 – “then both men in the controversy shall stand before Yahweh, before the priests and the judges who serve in those days. 18 – “And the judges shall make careful inquiry, and indeed, if the witness is a false witness, who has testified falsely against his brother, 19 – “then you shall do to him as he thought to have done to his brother; so you shall put away the evil from among you. 20 – “And those who remain shall hear and fear, and hereafter they shall not again commit such evil among you. 21 – “Your eye shall not pity: life shall be for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. 

To be a false witness against our neighbor basically means to falsely accuse someone else of wrongdoing. In the Torah, false witnesses were dealt with very harshly. We see in the above verses that if a person was found to be bearing false witness against another person, they would be given the punishment that the other person would have received if the witness was true! With such a righteous law, we can understand why ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses’ every matter truly was established. If anyone rose up as a false witness, they would be given the same punishment they thought to give to their neighbor…. risking their own life! With such a thing facing them, they would be very careful, yes?

If this righteous rule were established in today’s court systems, there wouldn’t be nearly the problems we see today.

Notice that the judges were required to make ‘diligent inquisition’, meaning that they were to be very careful and search diligently before making a judgment. We see this in other instances as well:

Deuteronomy 13:12- If you hear someone in one of your cities, which Yahweh your Elohim gives you to dwell in, saying, 13 – ‘Corrupt men have gone out from among you and enticed the inhabitants of their city, saying, “Let us go and serve other elohims” ‘ — which you have not known — 14 – “then you shall inquire, search out, and ask diligently. And if it is indeed true and certain that such an abomination was committed among you, 15 – “you shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword — utterly destroying it, all that is in it and its livestock, with the edge of the sword. 

And again:

Deuteronomy 17:2- If there is found among you, within any of your gates which Yahweh your Elohim gives you, a man or a woman who has been wicked in the sight of Yahweh your Elohim, in transgressing His covenant, 3 – “who has gone and served other elohim and worshiped them, either the sun or moon or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded, 4 – “and it is told you, and you hear of it, then you shall inquire diligently. And if it is indeed true and certain that such an abomination has been committed in Israel, 5 – “then you shall bring out to your gates that man or woman who has committed that wicked thing, and shall stone to death that man or woman with stones. 

So we see in these verses the importance of making diligent inquiry before judging that someone has done wrong or evil. While it is true that the context of these cases would be in a court of law, it is also true that judgment begins at the household of Yahweh:

1 Peter 4:17- For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of Elohim; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of Elohim?

1 Corinthians 6:2- Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters?

The principles of judgment are the same. Yahweh’s will concerning judgment of matters is consistent throughout all of scripture. A DILIGENT inquiry must be made before making any sort of judgment or being a witness against another. If this is not done, and a false witness speaks…there are very serious consequences. It is a grievous sin in the eyes of Yahweh and he is not pleased.

But so often, my brethren..

SO SO often…

I have seen where people are very quick to judge the character of another person, with hardly any inquiry at all! So… so often, I have seen quick, snap judgments and accusations that another person has or is doing something wrong when the person has truly done nothing at all! Indeed.. so often I have seen one person assassinate the character or reputation of another person based on suspicions and phony spiritual discernment when in reality there is an unclean spirit that is bringing these things to their mind. What’s more, such accusations are often done privately and without the other person’s knowledge.

Let me speak to you freely and bluntly to inform you that anyone practicing such things is bearing false witness and is imitating the accuser/adversary/devil! 

In fact, the greek word from which we get the term “Devil” from the greek word diabolos and means “Accuser.” For instance, another form of this word “diaballo” is found in Luke 16:1….

Luke 16:1- He also said to His disciples: “There was a certain rich man who had a steward, and an accusation was brought to him that this man was wasting his goods. 2 – “So he called him and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.’ 

The word that is translated “Accused” in verse 1 is “diabollo” (#1225), from where we get “Diabolos” (Devil). Letting the context in thise verse offer a good definition of “diabollo”, we can see that “accused” would be a pretty good translation. Why is it that the adversary is called “accuser”? 

Revelation 12:9- So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. 10 – Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our Elohim, and the power of His Messiah have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our Elohim day and night, has been cast down. 11 – “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. 

As we see, the devil/accuser can be quite active in accusing the brethren before Yahweh day and night. “Diabolos” is the LXX (Septuagint) translation of the Hebrew word “Satan” meaning “Adversary”. (The Septuagint is a greek translation of the “Old Testament” that predates the “New Testament” writings). From the beginning, a predominant characteristic of the adversary (satan) is indeed the role of an accuser. We see this theme in the book of Genesis:

Genesis 3:1- Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which Yahweh Elohim had made. And he said to the woman, “Has Elohim indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” 2 – And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 – “but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, Elohim has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” 4 – Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 – “For Elohim knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like Elohim, knowing good and evil.” 

Part of the temptation that the adversary offered was a “subtle” accusation toward Elohim. The accusation was that Elohim was withholding wonderful things from Eve and the reason Elohim didn’t want Eve to eat from the tree was because Elohim wanted to keep her from being like He is. The “subtle” implication is that Eve could be just like Elohim and not be under His yoke/authority anymore.

Consider also the exchange between satan and Yahweh in the book of Job:

Job 1:8- Then Yahweh said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears Elohim and shuns evil?” 9 – So Satan answered Yahweh and said, “Does Job fear Elohim for nothing? 10 – “Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 – “But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!” 

This was an accusation from the accuser/adversary stating that Job only served Yahweh because Yahweh blessed and protected him. After Job didn’t curse Yahweh as the adversary had falsely predicted, the following happened:

Job 2:3- Then Yahweh said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears Elohim and shuns evil? And still he holds fast to his integrity, although you incited Me against him, to destroy him without cause.” 4 – So Satan answered Yahweh and said, “Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life. 5 – “But stretch out Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will surely curse You to Your face!” 

So the adversary once again made the accusation that Job would curse Yahweh to His face if Yahweh permitted bad things to happen to him. We can see some consistency in the spirit of the adversary. It is a spirit of false accusations. If you continue reading the book of Job, you will see that this same spirit later influenced Job’s three “friends” to accuse him of wrongdoing. They continuously tried to say that Yahweh was punishing him for his sins, but it was all false. The enemy was using these men to coerce Job into sin.

Yahweh later rebuked these three “friends”: 

Job 42:7- And so it was, after Yahweh had spoken these words to Job, that Yahweh said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is aroused against you and your two friends, for you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has. 8 – Now therefore, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, go to My servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and My servant Job shall pray for you. For I will accept him, lest I deal with you according to your folly; because you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.” 

It is very important that we are not influenced by this same spirit in any way, shape or form. We do not want to be like the adversary. Instead, we need to be like Yahushua! We know that Yahushua came to this earth where He was often accused, but He never falsely accused anyone. He was smitten, spit on, mocked, and tortured to death: 

Mark 15:19- Then they struck Him on the head with a reed and spat on Him; and bowing the knee, they worshiped Him. 20 – And when they had mocked Him, they took the purple off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him out to crucify Him. 

With all they had done to Him, one would think that He had every reason in the world to accuse these people to the Father and seek their destruction. But Yahushua, being wise, understanding and full of compassion, said:

Luke 23:33- And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left. 34 -Then Yahushua said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” And they divided His garments and cast lots. 

Brethren, we must seek the wisdom, the understanding and the truth of Yahweh before we set out to accuse another. If Yahushua lacked Yahweh’s wisdom, it would have been easy for Him to judge their motives as being purely evil and wrong. But He understood that they simply didn’t know what they were even doing. Even when a person has done a wrong, we should seek Yahweh’s wisdom and understand where mercy comes in. Yahushua prayed that Yahweh would forgive them because they were ignorantly doing evil. It is too often the case that when a person does wrong and deserves mercy–or even when they haven’t done wrong–a whispering accusation is spoken in the ears of another.

Scripture says:

Psalm 101:5- Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, Him I will destroy; The one who has a haughty look and a proud heart, Him I will not endure. 

Notice that pride was associated with the slander in that verse? Indeed, often a major reason behind such things is to feed one’s own pride by putting another person down. Many seek to peer down at another person and make judgments about them (real or imagined) so that they themselves might seem to be above them!

But scripture says:

Philippians 2:3- Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 

False accusers are among the evil traits of those who we will come to find in the last days:

2 Timothy 3:1- But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 – For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 – unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 

We certainly do not want to have any of these characteristics, including being a false accuser. These are characteristics of evil, not good. We must realize the importance of not being a false accuser!

Today, entire ministries are based on false or unproven accusations. There are numerous ministries on the internet and elsewhere which claim to promote “Cutting edge information” on the latest conspiracy of this government or that government—of this world leader planning or doing this— and that world leader planning or doing that. But in reality those who make these claims don’t really have any proof at all! It’s just a bunch of “Could be’s” or “maybe’s” or “possibilities”. Accusations are made when no diligent inquiry is really done, nor is one really possible. We aren’t in their rooms while they speak and we aren’t in their meetings. We really don’t know what goes on in the White House every day. Some claim one thing evil about him and some another…but do we really know??  Can we really prove anything? We must be very diligent that we do not bear false witness or circulate any false report. 

Still, entire ministries are devoted to the latest accusation/rumor/lie that nobody can really prove one way or another. 

Let’s return to sound doctrine and let the truth of Yahweh’s word speak! We really don’t need to spend all our time trying to keep up with what satan is trying to do next. We need to spend our time seeking what Yahweh is doing!  

We read that one of the requirements of women who are elders is that they not be false accusers:

Titus 2:1- But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine: 2 – that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love, in patience; 3 – the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things — 4 – that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, 5 – to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of Elohim may not be blasphemed.

You see, it is the enemies and adversaries of Yahweh that are the false accusers. Yahushua encountered some who made a number of attempts to accuse him:

Matthew 12:10- And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand. And they asked Him, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” — that they might accuse Him. 

And again…

Matthew 27:12- And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing.

And again…

Luke 11:53-  And as He said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to assail Him vehemently, and to cross-examine Him about many things, 54 – lying in wait for Him, and seeking to catch Him in something He might say, that they might accuse Him. 

In the end, it was the false accusation of blasphemy that sentenced Him to death. It is so important to not falsely accuse! False accusation is what brought Yahushua to be sentenced to death!

Matthew 26:64- Yahushua said to him, “It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.” 65 – Then the high priest tore his clothes, saying, “He has spoken blasphemy! What further need do we have of witnesses? Look, now you have heard His blasphemy! 66 – “What do you think?” They answered and said, “He is deserving of death.” 

Never underestimate the power of a false accusation. 

The apostles were also accused:

Acts 24:5- For we have found this man a plague, a creator of dissension among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes. 6 – “He even tried to profane the temple, and we seized him, and wanted to judge him according to our law. 7 – “But the commander Lysias came by and with great violence took him out of our hands, 8 – “commanding his accusers to come to you. By examining him yourself you may ascertain all these things of which we accuse him.” 

It is the enemies of Yahweh that spend their time falsely accusing the brethren. It surely should not be that the brethren are falsely accusing one another! Neither do we need to be spending our time finding the latest thing to accuse various world leaders. We need to be spending our time, on our knees… praying for these leaders:

Jeremiah 29:7- And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to Yahweh for it; for in its peace you will have peace.

1 Timothy 2:1- Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, 2 – for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all elohimliness and reverence. 

Be assured, we will be falsely accused by the world. But Kepha/Peter wrote that we are to live our lives in such a way that our works bring shame to those who falsely accuse us:

1 Peter 3:15- But sanctify the Master Elohim in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; 16 – having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Messiah may be ashamed. 17 – For it is better, if it is the will of Elohim, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. 

And again…

1 Peter 2:11- Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, 12 – having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify Elohim in the day of visitation. 

Younger women are encouraged to live likewise:

1 Timothy 5:14- Therefore I desire that the younger widows marry, bear children, manage the house, give no opportunity to the adversary to speak reproachfully. 15 – For some have already turned aside after Satan.

Paul, when writing to Titus wrote about the necessity of a leader being without fault:

Titus 1:5- For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you — 6 – if a man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of dissipation or insubordination. 7 – For a bishop must be blameless, as a steward of Elohim, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, 8 – but hospitable, a lover of what is good, sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled, 9 – holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict. 10 – For there are many insubordinate, both idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, 11 – whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not, for the sake of dishonest gain. 12 – One of them, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” 13 – This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, 14 – not giving heed to Jewish fables and commandments of men who turn from the truth. 15 – To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled. 16 – They profess to know Elohim, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work. 

In the above verses, I think it is worthy to note that To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled. This is so true, and it is often the one whose mind is so focused on evil and wrong that is quick to accuse others of doing evil and wrong. 

But we should not be among the false accusers. If it is we who have to deal with false accusers, then we should surely not be like them! Rather than responding with a false accusation of our own, we should simply live our lives so that our conduct reproves those who accuse us. Daniel was an example of that:

Daniel 6:3- Then this Daniel distinguished himself above the governors and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king gave thought to setting him over the whole realm. 4 – So the governors and satraps sought to find some charge against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find no charge or fault, because he was faithful; nor was there any error or fault found in him. 

If we are falsely accused, we are actually “blessed” and we are more like Yahushua:

Matthew 5:11- Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. 

Do we see the battle lines drawn brethren? It is the adversary that is seeking to bring reproach upon the innocent. He did so with Yahushua and we can expect it to be done to us:

Matthew 10:24- A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. 25 – “It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household! 

Now it is important to note that accusing is not necessarily inherently evil. It is a necessary part of judging wrongdoing. We just need to be VERY sure we are on the right side of Yahweh’s judgment when we choose to accuse.

Proverbs 17:15- He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the just, Both of them alike are an abomination to Yahweh. 

Therefore, let’s flee from abominations and lets embrace the wisdom and understanding of Yahweh. Let’s seek to abide in Yahweh’s holy hill:

Psalm 15:1- Yahweh, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your holy hill? 2 – He who walks uprightly, And works righteousness, And speaks the truth in his heart; 3 – He who does not backbite with his tongue, Nor does evil to his neighbor, Nor does he take up a reproach against his friend; 

Therefore, let’s be sure that we refrain from evil speaking and let’s embrace mercy and truth:

James 4:11- Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 – There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another? 

Ephesians 4:31- Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. 32 -And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as Elohim in Messiah forgave you. 

So often, false accusations between two persons are actually rooted in bitterness. When two people are at odds over something, false accusations are too often flying back and forth. Why? Because each person believes the other is a person of poor character, suspicions of wrongdoing are much more frequent. An innocent action is perceived as an evil action simply because one person doesn’t believe the other person is of good character. But this ought not be so! We must be a true witness in every matter and not let the defiling work of bitterness cloud and defile our judgment!

If our brother sins against us, we should be reading and following Matthew 18:15-17 rather than slandering them everywhere we go.

Matthew 18:15- Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. 16 – “But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’ 17 – “And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.

If we follow these steps, we may even find out we totally misunderstood and were totally wrong! This is probably one reason why Yahushua said we should go to them personally first. Such bitterness also can occur in a marriage, especially if there have been marital troubles. Husbands (the authority in the home) are particularly warned about this:

Colossians 3:19- Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them. 

Bitterness a husband holds against the wife for past wrongs will too often result in future false suspicions of wrongdoing.. and consequently, false accusation. When such accusations are exposed as false, I believe husbands must repent and seek forgiveness rather than just brushing it off and ignoring the fact that a sin was just committed. If we hear an accusation, a report of evil about anyone (brethren, leaders of congregations or nations) and we are uncertain of the matter… we must be extra sure that we are not spreading it:

Exodus 23:1- Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.

And just because everyone else is accusing, that doesn’t make the accusation correct.

Exodus 23:2- Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment:

We should beware, and keep ourselves from any false matter. Too often “Email” is a playground for such things. One person emails something and it gets forwarded all over the internet. We should not pass on something unless we know it to be true.

Exodus 23:7- Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked.

We should seek the truth of a matter lest we be found guilty of spreading a false report.

When we think evil of another and we really do not know for sure, we are wise to not assume the thought to be true. And we are wiser still not to condemn them, especially if we have our own things to overcome.

Matthew 7:1- Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 – “For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. 3 – “And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? 4 – “Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? 5 – “Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

Yes, so often a person thinks or says evil of another but they themselves are guilty of the same or even greater sins. They are knocking everyone over with the huge timber in their eye while they accuse another person to make themselves feel better!

Consider this: The minute you judge another’s salvation for his own lack of understanding in a matter.. you are endangering yourself because who knows if you might be ignorant on another matter? We need to be wise, understanding and merciful… just as Yahushua was who was so very merciful:

Matthew 5:7- Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

We are far better off not to accuse another of wrongdoing in our minds or with our mouths unless we are 100% sure of the matter. If we are unsure, we can choose to investigate and make diligent inquiry. If we find it to be so, we should take it to that person rather than whisper it to someone else. For what good does it do to tell everyone else about a person’s sin? It doesn’t help or love the sinner. It would be an act of love to tell the brother who sinned:

Leviticus 19:17- You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him. 18 – ‘You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am Yahweh.

Telling some other person is not the answer. Hiding it from the person is not the answer. Going to the person is the way of righteousness and mercy:

James 5:19- Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, 20 – let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins. 

And if we should go to the person, we should do so in meekness:

Galatians 6:1- Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. 

It could be that you didn’t have correct information about a matter and were wrong in your judgment. Always listen when going to the person.

Proverbs 18:17- The first one to plead his cause seems right, Until his neighbor comes and examines him. 

Therefore….

2 Timothy 2:24- And a servant of the Master must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, 25 – in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if Elohim perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, 26 – and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will. 

And again….

James 3:13- Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom.

When we are meek, we won’t be so quick to wrongly judge another. When we aren’t so quick to judge another, we are ourselves spared from judgment. 

I am quite sure that we are going to need all the mercy we can get on the day of judgment. Therefore, let’s cease from snap judgments based on false pretenses, phony spiritual discernments, false witnesses and evil thoughts. 

Let’s cease from false accusations based on mere suspicions and spiritual pride, lest we find ourselves imitating the father of lies.

Let’s cease from falsely accusing a person based on past experiences with others. Every person is different.

Instead….

Let’s forever seek to intercede and plead the cause of the falsely accused.

Let’s forever seek to make diligent inquiry before making any accusation.

Let’s forever seek to imitate the One who IS the truth.

Let’s forever seek the TRUTH in every matter—resisting every false thought—and the one who would inspire them.