No Body is Perfect

“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? ”
Matthew 7:1-4 (NIV)

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times” (Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities) and judgements were zinging through the air everywhere. We are living in the best and worst of times and rather than it bringing out our better natures, it seems to be ripping us apart. Because people are spending a lot of time pointing out the specks in other people’s eyes, while completely ignoring that plank in our eyes, we are just out there judging everything. I’m guilty too, I just don’t normally say it out loud – doesn’t make it right, just being honest.

This week’s passage, starts with a command: “Do not Judge…” and the consequences – however we judge others is how we will be judged. I think being judgmental can take many forms. Sometimes we see a homeless person and make a judgement as to why. Sometimes we see injustice and either think that somehow, it is deserved or we turn a blind eye rather than speaking out. Sometimes we think the “they” are wrong and we are right, when the truth is maybe we are wrong.

Jesus follows up His questions by calling the people (especially His followers) hypocrites (essentially two-faced people) and instructing them to get the plank out of their own eyes before being concerned about the speck in someone else’s eye. No one is perfect, that’s why we need Jesus, we were deserving of harsh judgement and a punishment to match. Instead, we got mercy. We got grace. We got a love that transforms our hearts.

As followers of Jesus, we are supposed to love mercy, act justly and walk humbly in our dealings with others. We are called to unity with the Lord and with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

I’ll leave you with this question, who is out there judging you in the same way you might be judging someone else? We won’t be absolutely perfect until Jesus comes back and makes everything new – in the mean time we can show grace, mercy and love to everyone we encounter.

Let me know your thoughts. Know someone who might be encouraged by this email – please share. I will be praying for you. Until next week – don’t judge – just show the love of Jesus.