Read Matthew 7:1-5 I have a bad habit of getting a kick out of when other people misspeak and say common words weird. Maybe they stuttered a little bit or slurred a word that cracks me up. It’s even better if the word they end up saying means something completely different than the word they were meaning. While it cracks me up when others do it, I’m not to keen on when people laugh at me for the same thing. That’s especially not good considering I probably do it much more than others. It’s usually a whole lot easier to point out the mistakes others make than it is to admit our own. “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.” Chances are you’ve heard someone quote this verse. Probably even people who don’t know much about the Bible or God. But, they’ve heard of this one before. There is something about the idea of not passing judgement on others that is attractive in our current culture. Notice, though, that Jesus doesn’t stop there. He says that, when you judge, you will be judged in the same way. He then likens most of us to people who worry about a speck of sawdust in someone else’s eye while having a giant plank stuck in our own eye. Unfortunately, it’s these types of hypocrites who have represented God and the church for quite a bit of history. The world sees the church as a group of people who like to condemn others for their sin, but, when the tables are turned, they are guilty of the same or even worse than what they railed against. This isn’t what God had in mind for His church. When Jesus says, “don’t judge,” He’s not saying we shouldn’t expose sin or challenge others to live out God’s ways. It means that we aren’t to judge in a hypocritical, self-serving way. In fact, we are to be the harshest judge on ourselves. We are called to love and compassion. Our job isn’t to shame or guilt people for past mistakes, it’s to encourage others toward living more closely to Christ today. Reflect What areas do you find yourself to be most judgemental in. What causes you to slip from trying to encourage people to be closer to Jesus to guilting or shaming them? Pray Talk to God today about the ways in which you might be hypocritical in how you judge others. Ask God to help you have a heart to encourage people and not to tear them down. // TWO-A-DAYS // GO A LITTLE FARTHER WITH YOUR DAILY DEVOTIONS // Go through these questions with your spouse, kids, or friend, or you can even journal about the answers to these questions:
- What was the best part of your day?
- What was the toughest part of your day?
- Where did you mess up today?
- Where did you see God today?
Recent Comments