I’m guilty of creating smoke screens. My brain thinks in analytics. I analyze everything and everyone. Criticizing others comes very easy for me. As a freelance designer, I’ve spent countless hours studying advertising campaigns, brands, and marketing techniques. I’m always studying the competition, picking out where they messed up, and then capitalizing on it, so some capitalist that hired me can make some money. I’ve found that this can accelerate the judging I often do with people. 

You’ve got to love Romans 2:2.

Every time you criticize someone, you condemn yourself. It takes one to know one. Judgmental criticism of others is a well-known way of escaping detection in your own crimes and misdemeanors. But God isn’t so easily diverted. He sees right through all such smoke screens and holds you to what you’ve done.

If I can identify the enemy in other people, than its much easier ignore the enemy in me. We often see people through the lens that we see ourselves in. 

By judging others, we are making smoke screens to hide the way we really are. The problem is, from God’s perspective, the smoke screens merely point out where we’re at, exposing the true location of our motives.