Let us read from Mathew 7:1-5, “Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” These verses speak of a common attitude that all men have. These verses were spoken as part of the Sermon on the Mount; taught to the disciples. Jesus speaks of various good and bad attitudes that men have. Judging others is one bad attitude that we can have and one that we need to be cleansed from. We need to allow the Holy Spirit to completely get rid of judging others. In Luke 6:37 we read the same instance. We read in this verse, “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned”. When we see a judgmental attitude in us, we need to remember that it comes from a lack of love. We need to ask God for mercy and repent from any such attitudes in our lives.
In John 8:15 we read of Jesus’ attitude to judging, “You judge according to the flesh; I am not judging anyone.” In John 8 we read of the instance when the adulterous woman was bought in front of Jesus. The Pharisees wanted to test Jesus and try to put Him in trouble. Jesus exposes the sin that the Pharisees had in their heart of judging the woman. In Mathew 7 we read that we will be judged in the way that we judge and also that we need to take the log out of our eyes to take the speck out of a brother’s eye. This was what Jesus said to the Pharisees also. We are all eager to see the mistakes of others while overlooking the mistakes that we do. We need to remove the unforgiving attitude and lack of love in our lives. Allow the Holy Spirit to work in your hearts. If we look at a brother through love, we won’t judge. In 1 Corinthians 13 we read of love. In verse 7 we read that love, “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” Through God’s love, we will be able to bear and endure the shortcomings of our brethren.
If we see a judgmental attitude in our lives, we can come to our heavenly Father. In James 2:13 we read, “For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.” Wait till the Lord comes; who will reveal all things. Let us be eager to have mercy. In 1 Corinthians 4:5, “Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God.” We should discern but not pass judgment. In Mathew 7 Jesus says that we can discern a tree by its fruit- similarly in the case of a man. We must discern those who try to widen the narrow gate.
Through love, we can tell our brother or sister of a sinful attitude. But remember it must be done in love. We too may have done similar sins in the past. It is the Lord who through His mercy rescued us. We should also remember that we don’t always know the full story – so don’t judge but rather love them and show mercy. In 1 John 3:3 we read, “And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” This is what John encouraged us to do – purify ourselves by judging ourselves and not others. Judge ourselves – do I have a cold shoulder attitude or an attitude of hatred? If so, ask the Holy Spirit to help you. If we confess our sins, God is faithful and righteous to forgive us and cleanse us from all sins. God can remove the nature of Adam from us.
In Revelations 3; in the letter to the church in Laodicea, God says, “because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.” Do we have this attitude of the Laodiceans thinking we are perfect in every way?When God shows what we lack, we need to go to Him and be refined and buy from Him what is required.
Let us remove all hypocrisy from ourselves. Let us always yearn to take the log out of our eyes so that we can help our brethren. When we hear these verses, we may think this is impossible with me, but Jesus has called us to a much higher life. When we are eager to be cleansed from this attitude, Jesus will cleanse us. In the gospels we see how Jesus cleansed and healed all those who asked him. He can do the same for you and me. May God bless us all!
