Do Not Judge
Matthew 7
New International Version 1984 (NIV1984)
Judging Others
7 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
I have an affinity for sweets. Understatement? Big time. I could eat pie three times a day and perhaps be satisfied, but I’m not sure that would even be enough. But eating that much sugar is not good for me. One part of my brain knows that, but the part that controls pleasure screams, “I don’t care.”
My husband is slightly more disciplined than I, so when I reach for something sweet he gives me the evil eye, to which I reply, “Don’t be judgie.” I know, judgie is not a real word, but I like it and it is just cute enough to take the edge off of telling someone not to be judgmental.
Sin causes us to do strange things. As our sin grows we tend to look for sin in others to deflect attention away from ourselves. But Jesus says how can we even see the sin in others when our vision and our perspective are so skewed by our own sin.
I believe that Jesus tells us not to be judgmental, not to protect others from our disapproval, but to protect each one of us from developing a spirit of criticism. Criticism necessarily does harm, not just to the recipient but to the deliverer as well. Avoiding being critical of others becomes much more manageable when we follow Rule One of John Wesley’s Three Simple Rules: Do no harm.
When we determine to do no harm, suddenly our worldview changes. We must think before we speak, we must be cognizant of the outcome of our words and our actions and therefore monitor ourselves much more closely. Easy? No. Necessary? Absolutely.
Don’t be judgie.
Prayer: Father God, we are so thankful that you love us so much, and that you want only good for us. Help us, Father, to develop that type of love for others so that instead of judging them we would simply love them. Amen.
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