Just last week Dave went to the optometrist. He was able to pick up his new glasses on Friday. It’s interesting how just a little adjustment can make such a big difference in clearer vision.
Jesus is still teaching on the mountain and in today’s verses He’s called us all in for an “I” exam.
“ Don’t condemn others, and God won’t condemn you. 2 God will be as hard on you as you are on others! He will treat you exactly as you treat them.
3 You can see the speck in your friend’s eye, but you don’t notice the log in your own eye. 4 How can you say, “My friend, let me take the speck out of your eye,” when you don’t see the log in your own eye? 5 You’re nothing but show-offs! First, take the log out of your own eye; then you can see how to take the speck out of your friend’s eye.” Matthew 7:1-5 CEV
We have to remember that all of these verses from the last few days flow together from one teaching. Although little segments can be pulled out for study, they must stay in context with the whole message.
Jesus has already taught us on having a proper attitude, not being a showoff and being light and salt in a world that has spent so much time in darkness. He’s emphasized that we are to love as the Father loves. It only follows that He would instruct more thoroughly on how to treat and deal with others.
Don’t judge unless we would like to be judged. (I didn’t say it, Jesus did.)
Yikes, that one hits pretty close to home. I think we all can fall into that dangerous ditch of judging. That’s why we need to have our eyes examined. It’s easy to see the faults in others; sometimes we even magnify them, and then we overlook our own faults.
But Christ saw that we all need a Saviour.
“Christ had no sin, but God made him become sin so that in Christ we could be right with God.” II Corinthians 5:21 ERV
“Honor God by accepting each other, as Christ has accepted you.” Romans 15:7 CEV
” But I am giving you a new command. You must love each other, just as I have loved you. 35 If you love each other, everyone will know that you are my disciples.” John 13:34-35 CEV
“ If you think you are better than others, when you really aren’t, you are wrong. 4 Do your own work well, and then you will have something to be proud of. But don’t compare yourself with others.” Galatians 6:3-4 CEV
“God treats everyone alike. He accepts people only because they have faith in Jesus Christ. 23 All of us have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. 24 But God treats us much better than we deserve, and because of Christ Jesus, he freely accepts us and sets us free from our sins.” Romans 3:22-24 CEV
Now, don’t choke on your coffee when you read “He treats everyone alike”. God’s grace and mercy is extended to all of us. “God loved the WORLD, so He gave his only Son”.
We don’t have to agree with what everyone says or does. God forbid, because then we would be agreeing with sin and that’s what God has delivered us from.
But, we do need to see through His eyes and love the sinner as He did for us without judging and condemning them. In God’s eyes, sin is sin. No big, no little – just sin that stops us all from having a personal relationship with Him. All sin is forgivable and once forgiven gives us a relationship with the Father.
Let’s have the Father give us an “I” exam and fit us with proper lens so that we see the world through His eyes!