For I know of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this; but He who judges me is the Lord. (A)Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to (B)light the hidden things of darkness and (C)reveal the [a]counsels of the hearts. (D)Then each one’s praise will come from God.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Corinthians 4:5 motives

I am aware of nothing against myself and I feel blameless, but I am not by this acquitted [before God]. It is the Lord who judges me. So do not go on passing judgment before the appointed time, but wait until the Lord comes, for He will both bring to light the [secret] things that are hidden in darkness and disclose the motives of the hearts. Then each one’s praise will come from God.

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My conscience(A) is clear, but that does not make me innocent.(B) It is the Lord who judges me.(C) Therefore judge nothing(D) before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes.(E) He will bring to light(F) what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.(G)

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1-4 Don’t imagine us leaders to be something we aren’t. We are servants of Christ, not his masters. We are guides into God’s divine secrets, not security guards posted to protect them. The requirements for a good guide are reliability and accurate knowledge. It matters very little to me what you think of me, even less where I rank in popular opinion. I don’t even rank myself. Comparisons in these matters are pointless. I’m not aware of anything that would disqualify me from being a good guide for you, but that doesn’t mean much. The Master makes that judgment.

So don’t get ahead of the Master and jump to conclusions with your judgments before all the evidence is in. When he comes, he will bring out in the open and place in evidence all kinds of things we never even dreamed of—inner motives and purposes and prayers. Only then will any one of us get to hear the “Well done!” of God.

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