3. What instruction about judging does Jesus next give in the Sermon on the Mount?

³ As Jesus continued his Sermon on the Mount, more sayings mounted up that Christians must strive to follow. Here is one that seems simple, but it condemns one of the most difficult tendencies to get rid of: “Stop judging that you may not be judged; for with what judgment you are judging, you will be judged; and with the measure that you are measuring out, they will measure out to you. Why, then, do you look at the straw in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the rafter in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Allow me to extract the straw from your eye’; when, look! a rafter is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First extract the rafter from your own eye, and then you will see clearly how to extract the straw from your brother’s eye.”​—Matthew 7:1-5.

 5. Why is it so much easier to see the flaws in others than those in ourselves?

⁵ During the first century C.E., because of oral traditions, the Pharisees in general tended to judge others harshly. Any of Jesus’ listeners who were in the habit of doing that were to stop it. It is so much easier to see the straws in the eyes of others than the rafters in our own​—and much more reassuring to our ego! As one man said, “I love to criticize others because it makes me feel so good!” Habitually censuring others may give us feelings of virtue that seem to compensate for faults of our own that we want to hide. But if correction is necessary, it should be given in a spirit of mildness. The one giving correction should be ever conscious of his own shortcomings.​—Galatians 6:1.

 6. On what basis should our judgments, when necessary, be made, and what help should we seek so as not to be overly critical?

⁶ Jesus did not come to judge the world but to save it. Any judgments he made were not his but were based on the words God gave him to speak. (John 12:47-50) Any judgments we make should also be in harmony with Jehovah’s Word. We must squelch the human tendency to be judgmental. In doing this, we should persistently pray for Jehovah’s help: “Keep on asking, and it will be given you; keep on seeking, and you will find; keep on knocking, and it will be opened to you. For everyone asking receives, and everyone seeking finds, and to everyone knocking it will be opened.” (Matthew 7:7, 8) Even Jesus said: “I cannot do a single thing of my own initiative; just as I hear, I judge; and the judgment that I render is righteous, because I seek, not my own will, but the will of him that sent me.”​—John 5:30.