One of the things God has been doing with me lately is having me write about things where I can use myself as an example. And before that sounds to arrogant, let me make it clear that I don't mean a good example. I mean an example of the way I know I used to be, an example of the things I used to struggle with, and the things I still struggle with. So today as I was praying over what to write about I felt God pressing the word "judgement" on my heart. Judgment, or judging others, was an area I used to struggle with pretty bad. And to be honest it wasn't because I wanted to point out all the bad in someone else or even point out how wrong they were. It was because I didn't want to see the bad in myself or realize how wrong I was living my life. So it was always easier to compare myself to someone who "appeared" to be living worse than me....or struggled with things worse than me...or even someone who just struggled with things that were different than the things I struggled with. My goal today is not to condemn anyone if you have fell into this same way of thinking, but instead, get you to see why Jesus says it's not right for us to live like that and how dangerous it can be for you.
Probably one of the most popular pieces of scripture in the bible when you talk about judging others is Matthew 7:1-5, where Jesus says, "Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank(or log) in your own eye? 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? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye". I'm pretty sure I have even referenced this scripture in other blog posts. However, this is one of those pieces of scripture that can point something new out to me each time I read it. First of all we need to recognize that this is Jesus speaking...so that alone should grab out attention. Next we need to hear His tone as this is spoken. It is not to be taken lightly. It's not like Jesus is saying "hey, you "may" have some problems of your own". No He is saying your problems look like a LOG compared to the spec that you are pointing out in someone else. Deal with your log before you go talking to someone else about their spec. And before you disqualify yourself from being able to help others because of this verse, I do want to make it clear that God does want us to help others with their problems. But we can't very well go do that until we have allowed Him to help us with ours! We aren't supposed to try to cover ours so we can go help others. We get ours dealt with first! And this is where I used to screw up so bad. I covered my problems (my sins) and acted like they didn't exist so I could go "help" (and I use that term loosely) someone else. But what I learned is that when you have huge issues in your life that you are not allowing God to deal with, then your "help" toward someone else is just a shift of focus. You are focusing on someone else's junk so you don't have to focus on your own. I know that may be a tough pill to swallow, but I'm just trying to speak truth here. I focused on other's stuff and ignored my own for far to long and that was not something Jesus wanted me to do. In fact, that all finally stopped when I threw all my "stuff" at the feet of Jesus. It was humbling and eye opening! The grace and mercy that I was met with by Jesus completely changed the way I looked at others. It allowed me to see the grace and mercy I needed to be giving to others. Not passing judgement!
If we truly want to serve Christ then we have to learn how to also serve others. And the quickest way to get someone shut you out is to make them feel like you are judging them. We are only where we are with Jesus because He forgave us and showed us a Grace and Mercy we did NOT deserve. And we will reach people the way Jesus did (and does) when we can approach them with the same grace and mercy that He shows us. We can be the most effective for Jesus when we are freely giving Him all of OUR stuff to work on...not just praying for someone else's sin(s). Realizing we may never come to the day where we have no more sin(because we are human), but coming to the day where sin does NOT have us! We know who we are without Jesus, and now who we are IN Jesus. And it is ONLY because of Him that the log that was once in our own eye can be make a spec too!
God, Thank You that you love us enough to point out the things in us that need to be dealt with. You love us as we are and where we are, but You love us far to much to leave us as You found us. Help us to love others as they are and where they are, but constantly pointing them to You so that YOU can change them. It is not our place to change them, but it is our place to speak truth in love so You can do in their lives what you are doing in us daily. Holy Spirit humble us and remind us that we can relate better to others when we see the log in our own eye and please help us to never elevate ourself above others just because we have found Christ. If anything, that should cause us to lower ourselves enough to be able to serve them as Christ did. If we have judged, please forgive us and help us to right the wrongs we have done starting TODAY! In Jesus name, Amen
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