Richmond Circuit Court Chief Judge Clarence N. Jenkins Jr. encouraged his fellow congregation members to get “a spiritual tuneup” during a Men’s Day address Sunday at Garland Avenue Baptist Church on North Side.

His remarks were delivered on Palm Sunday, which Christians annually celebrate in marking Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem shortly before his crucifixion at Calvary.

“You come to a point where you need to do a serious self-evaluation to determine where you are spiritually,” Judge Jenkins told the congregation led by Dr. Jeffery O. Smith.

He said too many people “live in neighborhoods where they’re not thankful” for what they have and “become self-serving instead of serving God and others.”

“We should be humble,” he told the receptive church audience “and use our talents for the betterment of mankind.

“Time is precious,” he added. “We should start now to encourage others, be more positive and do things that Jesus would do to make this world a better place,” such as mentoring children, helping the homeless and drug-addicted people and others in need.

“To the extent you put anything in front of God,” he cautioned, “there is something wrong.”

Fifteen members of the judge’s family from Richmond and the Northern Neck area attended the service that was themed “Men of Purpose: Remembering the Past, Celebrating the Present, Preparing for the Future.”

Judge Jenkins’ son, Clarence N. Jenkins III, a junior at St. Christopher’s School in Richmond, introduced his father as “my hero and my role model.”

The younger Jenkins said he felt proud when several people who had appeared in court before his dad told him afterward, “Your dad’s a fair man and a fair judge.”

“He can see someone who is a criminal and see the good in them,” his son added.

Judge Jenkins told the congregation he had grown up in the church. He has attended Garland Avenue Baptist for many years and currently serves as the superintendent of the Sunday School there and is on the church trustee board.

Judge Jenkins said he believes in God’s redemptive power in turning around the lives of people who have committed crimes who appear before him, but “I let them know that I have guidelines I have to follow.”

“There is a price that you have to pay” when you commit a crime, he said, emphasizing that he seeks to be just and fair in his rulings.

Judge Jenkins said he was further inspired to “be more positive and encouraging” after he and his wife, Dr. Pamela Royal Jenkins, heard Dr. Luther S. Williams, former provost at Tuskegee University, speak at the 38th Annual Conference on the Black Family at Hampton University on March 16; Chris Gardner, whose story of rising from homelessness to owning a brokerage firm is chronicled in the 2006 Will Smith film “The Pursuit of Happyness,” speak at an event on March 17; then presiding over the Richmond Adult Drug Treatment Court graduation of 12 people last Friday at the Richmond Police Academy.

“You heard testimony from people who had been addicted to heroin for 20 to 30 years who felt like they were demon possessed,” Judge Jenkins said. “They said they just could not get through it without God in their lives and without the support of their families and others.”