![]() Humility is a mega theme throughout Christ’s Sermon on the Mount. He compared these offenses to giant logs that blind us to our own faults while we laser in on shortcomings in others. Jesus’s statement to “judge not lest you be judged” zeroed in on the problems of spiritual hypocrisy and self-centered pride. ![]() When we do this, we judge from a position of humility. But how can we help someone else if we are not free? We must first be willing to look honestly at our own lives and exercise the same judgment toward ourselves. The purpose of judging someone else’s weakness is to help him or her walk in freedom (1 Corinthians 5:12). He wants us to discern sin in others so we can help them get rid of it. Jesus does expect us to “deal with the speck” in our friend’s eye, particularly our brothers and sisters in Christ. And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye” (Matthew 7:1–3, NLT).Ĭhrist’s teaching was primarily directed to believers, but the principle can be applied to anyone. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged. For you will be treated as you treat others. A closer look at the rest of the passage illuminates the real issue Christ wanted to address: “Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. When Jesus said, “ Judge not lest you be judged,” He wasn’t issuing a blanket rule that people are never to judge others. ![]() ![]() And then, when you exercise judgment toward others, do it with humility” ( Holman New Testament Commentary, Vol. In his commentary on Matthew, Stuart Weber gives this excellent summary of the correct meaning of Matthew 7:1: “Do not judge others until you are prepared to be judged by the same standard. Sadly, the passage is one of the most misunderstood and misapplied teachings in Scripture by believers and non-believers alike. In Matthew 7, Jesus turns to the topic of judging others. “Judge not lest you be judged” is a snippet from Christ’s great Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:3-7:27). ![]()
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