“Do Not Judge”

 

	“Do not judge, or you too will be judged.”
	—Matthew 7:1

An interesting, yet sad, artifact of our current culture is that it has become extremely judgmental. It is not the church people who are the most judgmental. Rather, secular society often renders the harshest judgments against people who are different than they are.

As believers in the life-transforming power of the Lord Jesus Christ, we need to remember His words to His disciples as recorded in Matthew 7:1-5:

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.

We who believe in that life-altering power of the Lord Jesus Christ need to take a different stand than the judgmental stand taken by the secular world. We simply can’t jump on their bandwagon.

Oddly enough, the secular world accuses us of being intolerant, judgmental, harsh, unloving, and unkind because we hold to certain teachings clearly stated in God’s Word, the Bible. But, the secular world is wrong.

We are the ones who have the power of divine love. We are the ones who bring that divine love into the world. We shed light on the darkness of evil. We bring hope to the hopeless. We bring rest for the weary. We bring new life to those thought to be dead.

Yes, we do hold a standard of righteousness impressed upon us by God’s Word and by the Holy Spirit. But, rather than cloaking that standard of righteousness in hostility, disdain, and downright meanness, we present the standard of God’s righteousness in the compassionate wrapping of His unending love.

We approach those who need a savior the same way our Savior did—with love and grace and mercy. Rather than condemning, we show an openness in the same way Jesus did. We invite those who need a covering of the blood of our Savior to come and receive the welcome of His grace.

Don’t allow the secular world to try to destroy you by accepting the label they give. Live your life in the footsteps of Jesus. Make His “Sermon on the Mount” from Matthew 4, 5, and 6 your watchwords, your pattern of living.

 

_{Copyright © 2014 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

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