Judge Not!

 Matthew 7:1-12 

1 "Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. 3 And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye'; and look, a plank is in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

6 "Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.

Keep Asking, Seeking, Knocking

7 "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! 12 Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

Judge not!  Not unless you are prepared to be judged by the same standard you use to mea and then condemn another.  That is the message Christ Jesus gave to all who have ears to hear His word for us to live by.  Since none of us is righteous apart from God in us, who are we to measure someone by a standard which we cannot meet ourselves?  And since we are all under the wrath of God on our shared inheritance of sin from Adam, who are we who come short of perfection (Romans 3:20-23) to judge our neighbors and pass sentence?  It is God’s word alone that condemns (John 3:18, 12:48) and God alone who has that right which we do not possess.  The analogy of the enormous plank of wood compared to a spot of sawdust in the eye describes this unbalanced condemning judgment for us to see how we are unable to judge another in true and humble discernment to help them unless we deal with our own sin first.  This should be the first thing we think of when tempted to lay into another with condemning words driven by self-righteousness.  Only when we deal with confession and receive forgiveness from our Father in heaven can we in all humility put down our judgmental pride to really help our neighbor dislodge the irritation of sin in his or her own eye.  

Jesus then shifted the conversation to persistence in prayer for not only forgiveness for our sins, but in all things.  Like the word picture of the son asking his father for bread to eat and not expecting an inedible rock instead or for a fish and getting a dangerous snake, so we can ask God in faith for our daily bread of food or other needs and expect a good gift as a result that meets our need and is not dangerous to our souls.  Even evil persons can give good things to their own children so how could we not trust our perfect Father in heaven to do better for us always?  We then should keep asking, seeking, and knocking on the door of heaven until it is opened to us and our prayers are answered according to our need and not our misguided desires for pleasure or abundance of possessions.  The golden rule given here then in light of these truths is to do to others just like we would have them do for us just as it is written throughout the Law and the Prophets of scripture (Matthew 22:39-40, Romans 13:8-10, Galatians 5:14).  Loving our neighbor necessitates forgiveness and grace, not judgment and condemnation.  Judge not!  Remember our own forgiveness by the grace of God in Christ and it is much easier to forgive and help others deal with sin together instead.