Mercy Over Judgement
Matthew 7:1-4
“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”?
Judging: This is a serious issue in the Body of Christ. There’s a whole lot of judging going on and much of it is disguised as “This is what God told me to tell you.”
The reason for some of the things that are happening in our lives is the result of us judging one another. The Bible says, “Give the devil no place.” What does it mean to give him no place? It means: Do not give him entrance into your life or business. Do not give him access to your family. What is he going to do when he gets access to you? John 10:10 says he comes to steal, to kill, and to destroy! What can we do to STOP giving him access into our lives and family? “Resist the devil and he will flee…” – We can STOP the access!
How many times are we judging someone with a speck of sawdust in their eye and we’ve got this 2x4 in our own eye? You ACT like you are “speck-free” telling someone “You’ve got something in your eye” and all the while you’ve got this LOG in yours. You are on a mission to get everyone free from specks. “Yes, brother I have a Speck Ministry. My name is Inspector Speck and I am the official speck inspector!”
The guy with the speck says, “Well what about the 4x4 in your eye?” And you say, “Oh I’m fine, don’t judge me! We have to deal with that nasty little piece of sawdust in your life”.
Judging involves hypocrisy, blindness, and deception. In order to judge, you have to be a hypocrite. Did you know that honesty will eliminate all judging. If you are aware of this 4x4 in your life, you are NOT going be coming down on somebody else for their problem. You have to ACT like the issues in your own life are not there, when you know they really are there. Also, part of judging is “Fault-Finding” – “Your mote was a fault and we found it”.
MANY PEOPLE ARE PROUD (which is another problem) OF THEIR SPIRITUAL SENSITIVITY AND DISCERNMENT TO DETECT FAULTS IN OTHERS…. “Yes, I am picking up these problems about you. My “Mote-Detector” is going off”. How about you turn that thing on yourself and see what you pick up.
Now notice in Matthew 7:5 “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.”
Notice, he can now “help” to get the speck, but with the right heart and attitude. Now you are helping, NOT judging, criticizing, putting down, and condemning.
Luke 6:37 Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven
Whatever you do with THEM, God is going to do with YOU… If you won’t forgive them, God won’t forgive you. If you condemn them, you will be condemned. Whatever we do with each other is what is going to happen to us. The word “judge” means to decide. A judge in the courtroom makes a decision, he decides! He makes the decision and pronounces the sentence. Decides what? Whether they are guilty or not. Guilty of breaking the law, guilty of doing wrong and whether they deserve punishment or not and then passes sentence for the crime. And God tells us: “DON’T DO THAT” – don’t decide whether or not they are guilty, whether or not they should be punished. That is NOT your place! What relief and freedom there is when you realize: I don’t have make a decision about them.” We are not the umpire! We don’t have call them safe or out. When we get this right, it will change our lives and change our relationships.