Today’s Podcast
Today’s Bible reading plan:
Read it in a year – Job 7-8
see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)
Today’s Devotional
Matthew 7:1-5
Jesus: If you judge other people, then you will find that you, too, are being judged. Indeed, you will be judged by the very standards to which you hold other people. Why is it that you see the dust in your brother’s or sister’s eye, but you can’t see what is in your own eye? Don’t ignore the wooden plank in your eye, while you criticize the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eyelashes. That type of criticism and judgment is a sham! Remove the plank from your own eye, and then perhaps you will be able to see clearly how to help your brother flush out his sawdust.
What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?
If I’m honest with myself, it’s easy to criticize others. It’s easy to find faults in others work, their language, their dress, the way they do anything and everything. And it’s easiest in those areas where I think I’m pretty good at something. I’ve been at this church stuff for a long time, so it’s easy to criticize others in how they do church. What kind of music they sing. How they pray. How they preach. What lessons they choose to share. If you’re honest with yourself, you can do the same thing in your areas of expertise.
Adam gave us a great system of selfish comparison when he passed down those genes to us through his progeny. We’re great at magnifying the faults of others to minimize ours. We want to make ourselves seem better than others so we don’t feel as bad about our own faults. The problem is that the things we see in others are often the very things we do ourselves but just overlook in our own behavior.
Paul talks about it in Romans when he addresses the plight of humanity. We know the law implicitly. God places it in our hearts. We fail to obey it, but criticize others for doing the same. Our hypocrisy is obvious to everyone but ourselves and Jesus points it out clearly in his admonition to those who will hear His words.
Does Jesus tell us not to provide constructive criticism to those around us? No. We should be mentors to those who come behind us. We should help our juniors on life’s journey, in whatever areas of life, through sound constructive criticism and instruction. But Jesus warns we must remove the obstacles from our own life first. Be wary of the hypocrisy He saw in the Pharisees and teachers of the law who prided themselves on their knowledge of the law, but failed to live by its precepts.
Some will tell you not to judge. Quite frankly, I’m not sure it’s possible. We will judge. But Jesus reminds us with this stern warning that we will be judged in return by the same standards. If we become critical, demeaning, out to gain glory for yourself, that same measure of judgement will be leveled against you. It will not be a pretty sight in the end. Your charade will come to an end and your fall will be great, just like that of the Pharisees as the people saw their veil ripped apart with Jesus’ words.
So what is our response to His words today? Do we sit by and let behavior go unchecked because of a misinterpreted pronouncement of “don’t judge or you’ll be judged”? No. Do we let anything go because of a fear that we cannot adequately know what is right and wrong in a world that continues to slide down a steep path of degradation and evil? No. The words Jesus shares here doesn’t mean we don’t have a responsibility to stop bad behavior, but to first police our own behavior before we level judgements against others.
He says we must look at our own actions first. Make sure we are prayed up, in right relationship with God and man, before going to our brother to judge his actions. Know that we are doing some self-assessments and cleaning up our own act before we try to clean up the actions of those around us. It’s easy to see the bad behavior around us and announcing bad behavior for what it is doesn’t violate God’s commands or the precepts in His word. Jesus just says to also take inventory of our own lives as well.
For instance, it wasn’t okay to commit murder to stop the preaching of those opposed to the teaching of the Torah. Nor is it okay to burn down abortion clinics or shoot those who work there because of the right or wrong aspects of abortion. Violating God’s laws is still violating His laws. He doesn’t contradict Himself in His principles and precepts. So when you go about doing very unChristian things to prove your Christian point of view, what are you really doing? Aren’t you as guilty as those who violate those laws in the first place?
That’s the point Jesus makes here. Be careful that you don’t miss error in your own thinking and actions while looking for some misdeed in your brother. You’ll be measured with the same yardstick, so what kind of measure do you want to use? One of grace and mercy or one of wrath and anger? It’s still up to you. Choose wisely.
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