‘ “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces. ‘ Matthew 7:1-6
We are getting into some weighty theology with this Sermon on the Mount portion. Jesus is getting into an area that confuses everyone on this earth. At the end of this post will be links to the previous posts on this series on the Sermon on the Mount. Let’s dig in:
Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
The word “judge” comes from the Greek word “krino,” which means to “place condemnation on.” The only one with the right to judge or place condemnation is God. He is the only one who can see a person’s true heart.
We do this in ways that may seem righteous, and we’ll use phrases like, “You’ll know them by their fruits.”
Or, we’ll affirm things like, “They’ll never change their ways!”
When we act in this manner, we place ourselves in the place of God.
With regard to this, let’s look at the two groups of people that we are around everyday.
Believers and Unbelievers
As believers, we are responsible for watching each other a little closer. There is no love in letting another believer continue in sin that is obvious.
‘“ ‘Do not hate a fellow Israelite in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in their guilt. ‘ Leviticus 19:17
We are called to “speak the truth in love.” I think we run a little off here when we feel we need to take credit for the change in the person.
‘And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.’ 2 Timothy 2:24-26
Any honest and lasting change will happen by God’s hands, not ours. And when God makes this change, it will stick forever.
As far as the unbeliever goes, we can not measure their lives based on God’s standards. Now, they will suffer the consequences of the governing laws of society, but remember, the government is used by God to keep order over our world.
‘What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.”’ 1 Corinthians 5:12-13
When believers police themselves a little more and implement the proper use of church discipline, we become more useful for our world. But just like many other “organizations,” the church has covered up certain things that should have been handled. This is an error in thinking that Christians must appear perfect. We are far from perfect and should acknowledge sin in our lives and deal with it.
Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
We tend to look at ourselves based on our intentions, while we look at others based on what they did. For some reason, we tend to be critical of those who suffer from the same things we do.
‘The Lord sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him. “Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.” David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die! He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.” Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! This is what the Lord , the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’ “This is what the Lord says: ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity on you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight. You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’ ” Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord .” Nathan replied, “The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for the Lord , the son born to you will die.” ‘ 2 Samuel 12:1-14
After David slept with Bathsheba, he had her husband, Uriah, killed in battle. God sent Nathan to confront David about this sin.
Nathan started with a story about someone else committing the same sin as David. As Nathan ends his story, it says, “David burned with anger against the man.” And he offered suggestions about what should happen to this guy.
Then, Nathan hit David with the fact that the story was about him. David confessed that he did sin against God. All sin is against God. Others suffer when we sin against God.
As Christians, we will sin. Thankfully, by God’s grace, those sins are forgiven. But like David, we will suffer the consequences of the sin in our lives.
The key here is that we should be about removing the sinful nature we have in our lives. We should show grace to those around us who may be living with sin in their lives as we work to eliminate the sin in both of our lives.
Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.
I find this scripture portion fascinating, especially with the verses previous to it. There are those that we share our faith with, and they will battle with us every time. They want to discuss our faith to argue, not that they are interested in considering it.
Some, even in our church walls, will also fall into this category. No matter how often we review the scripture with them, they will always stand and argue.
Jesus explains to us that we do not engage in this activity. If there is no sincere effort on the other person’s side to consider the wisdom we have from the Bible, He calls us not to waste any more of our time in dialogue with them.
Heavenly Father, Thank You for Your patience with me.
I pray that You continue to help me see the sin in my life that does not glorify You and give me the strength and courage to deal with it.
I am grateful that You have entered my life. I pray that You continue to let Your Word speak into my life.
I am thankful for those who have put into my life.
In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray, Amen!!
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