Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God. —1 Corinthians 4:5

Maybe you’ve heard the popular refrain “Only God can judge me.” Whether it’s a defiant song lyric or a tattoo on a badly-behaved celebrity’s forearm, the phrase pops up everywhere, but these uses have little to do with the quote’s original context in 1 Corinthians 4. Having previously reminded the Corinthians they stand on one foundation together, Paul moves on into a warning about judgment:

Don’t judge one another on matters of faith and sin;
after all, you can’t fully know each other’s hearts.

In fact, don’t even try to judge yourselves;
we’re too prone to both self-doubt and self-flattery
to make such judgments accurately.

Rather, leave the judging to God.
God’s light will reveal every corner of our hearts when the time comes,
so just keep doing the best you can to serve in the meantime.

From here, Paul offers a warning about pride.
Some of the Corinthians took pride in their wealth and status, and others were proud to be disciples of Paul or Apollos or other teachers, and all of this pride only further fueled their judgmental behavior. Paul urges them to reconsider these positions, arguing none of us have anything more than what we’ve already received from others. According to Paul, there is no such thing as a “self-made man” since all of our resources have to come from somewhere. Paul even argues the successes of their church have only been made possible by the humbler “fools for Christ” who have gone before (such as Paul himself). All of this may sound harsh to us as modern readers, so Paul is careful to point out, “I am writing this not to shame you but to warn you as my dear children.” (1 Corinthians 4:14)

Paul closes out this section of the letter by making a point which may seem out of place until we dive a little deeper into it: “Therefore I urge you to imitate me.” (v. 16)

Paul doesn’t want the Corinthians to imitate everything about him. He only wants them to imitate him in so far as he imitates Christ. He’s not looking for the Corinthians to take on his style of dress or mannerisms or favorite expressions; he wants them to share his desire to act and think and love more like Jesus did.

Jesus behaved humbly.
Jesus never puffed himself up.
Jesus loved all he encountered.
Jesus called out injustices when he saw them,
but he also maintained a gentle spirit.
This is the behavior Paul wants the Corinthians (and us) to imitate.

So don’t judge others. As best you can, try not to judge yourself either. Leave the judgments to God, and focus on doing good in the here and now with the resources you’ve been given.