Bible In A Year | Read: Matthew 7
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?4How 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?5You 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. Matthew 7:3-5
Here Jesus ends the teaching he started in chapter 5. Judging the behavior of others is a way people can appear righteous even when they aren’t. Jesus says the path to God’s kingdom is a narrow one. It isn’t by trying to impress everyone with how righteous we are; it’s through the forgiveness that is found in Jesus. This way is hard to find because it is the only way.
We naturally pursue appearing righteous, judging others, and trying to have a relationship with God in our own way. Jesus teaches against all of that. He wants us to be righteous on the inside, accept and forgive others, and come to him in his way.
Correcting wrong behaviour. This is not judging. But it must be done properly.
First, correcting behaviour is always based on things we observe: “I saw you do this, I heard you say that, I saw you go here.” This is the way discipline must be handled with children. We correct their behaviour based on what we see/hear/watch them do. It is never to be based on what we think happened.
Second, the purpose of correction is always restoration and preventing this happening in the future. So it is never punishment (that is the result of judging—God takes care of that). It is to help future behaviour.
Third, do not correct others when there is bad (or even worse) behaviour in our own lives. We will not have credibility to tell people to stop if we are doing the same or worse!
Fourth, do not shy away from helping people deal with problems. Just do it right. Also, remember that God does not deal with every problem people have all at once— He works on one or two at a time. So be careful not to try and correct something that God is not working on. That takes a lot of maturity and wisdom.
Time to pray
Father, thank you for providing wisdom on how to deal with wrong behaviour. There is much I need to learn and much I need to do so that I can correct properly. Also, help me to encourage others to correct with integrity and wisdom. It takes so much wisdom to correct at the right time and in the right way. Help each of us today to also be open for correction – that is every bit as important today as being able to correct others properly. Give us humble hearts capable of receiving Your correction. In Jesus’ name Amen.
Action Step
What is God showing me? What am I going to do about it?
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