Matthew 7:1-5 1 “Do not judge, or you will be judged. 2 For with the same judgment you pronounce, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
3 Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but fail to notice the beam in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while there is still a beam in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite! First take the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”
(With apologies-I posted something short on this on the 23rd, thinking I needed something for the 24th. Now I am revising it in hopes of posting it in time for the 25th.)
Recently, I was doing an online course in trauma when I saw one of the most gruesome pictures I’ve seen for a while. The photo showed a patient with a huge piece of wood sticking out of the left eye. Blessedly, the patient only suffered minor cosmetic damage, but it looked horrible! Perhaps something like that happened and Jesus was making use of it in his parable.
The obvious moral of this story is that we must not judge, for our faults may be far more glaring than the miniscule failings of others. It would be like some grossly obese person lecturing a mildly plump person on weight control.
What’s Jesus’ point? Once more, Jesus is hammering home the idea that the measure of anything we give out is the measure we’ll receive. One of the popular toys when I was a kid was a paddle with a bouncy ball attached by an elastic cord. But you had to watch carefully or the ball would return from a direction you weren’t expecting. Yet another toy that was popular was a boomerang, and boomerangs would come back, unless they struck a target. Again, you couldn’t always tell the direction from which a boomerang might come. That’s what happens when we judge.
In these days of widespread social media, many people feel emboldened to criticize freely anyone disagreeing with them in any fashion. And the name-calling has become ridiculous. But there’s a problem, for employers have also become sensitive to social media posts by their employees. Troll if you wish, but be aware that your employer may be watching. Post comments that are too insensitive or inappropriate and you might find yourself in danger of not only losing your current job but being unable to secure a new one. Schools are also becoming increasingly aware of the dangers of online bullying. Again, vicious posts might come back to bite you, for anyone writing recommendations for you for further education or for a job will hesitate to write fulsome recommendations, knowing that you have made a public nuisance of yourself in print.
There’s also a much more important spiritual problem. The Lord’s prayer says, “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.” If you criticize in any form, you are claiming that someone owes you some kind of debt. But do you really want to be castigated in the same fashion you employ when insulting others? How can God forgive you anything if you refuse to forgive others?
As we meditate on these verses, ask God to show you if you have been guilty of judging when you should have given someone else the benefit of the doubt.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, we confess that we have freely judged others while expecting them to give us the benefit of the doubt. Help us to stop judging others and love them instead. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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