Verse: Matthew 7:1-5
1 “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? 5 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.
Devotion
What a convicting passage! These verses really hit home for me. In fact, I laughed a little at myself as I saw how God intended these verses for me at this very point in my life with all that I am going through. I wonder if God looked at me knowingly and whispered in that still small voice to our pastor, Christian, to make sure that these verses were assigned to me? Or was this the beautiful design of a random system that very specifically allocated these verses where they were most needed? By whatever means it came about, I’m thankful.
I’m thankful because this passage helped me to examine myself. Truthfully, I find it convenient to place blame and find fault with everyone else. It’s much more comfortable than looking at my own problems and shortcomings. While I don’t always speak these judgements, the thoughts bounce around my head like a pinball.
It’s quite an analogy that Jesus gave of “the log that is in your own eye”. How do I get to a point where I am not paying attention to something that is so huge and obvious? How can I continue to live my life with something that is getting in the way of seeing clearly? Perhaps over time I have become numb to the log and forgotten it’s there. Maybe I purposely turn my head to the side when I look in the mirror so that I can’t see the log. In other words, I avoid thinking about the things that I am doing wrong, or I excuse them instead of seeking healing and help.
Thankfully, Jesus has provided the fix. Instead of judging everyone else and avoiding our own sin, we all can choose to do as Jesus taught us to pray – to ask for forgiveness and to forgive others just like we have been forgiven. In practical application, when praying we can ask God to show us what sins we have committed and how we need to change our living. We can listen with our heart to see if God shows us these things. We can also decide to be willing to hear God speaking to us at other times when we are not expecting it. When these things become clear we can then confidently ask our Father God to forgive us, because of what Jesus has done to cover our sins. We can ask that his Holy Spirit, who is living in our hearts, will transform our lives. Then, once we have been forgiven and healed, we too can help others. God will bring others into our life that we can help overcome sin, and we can encourage them that there is victory, because we have gone through the same thing and seen how God has changed us.