Clearly We Can Be Blind

~~~ 2 Kings 17:5-8 ~~~ Ps. 60:3, 4-5, 12-13 ~~~ Matt. 7: 1-5 ~~~

Jesus said to his disciples:
"Stop judging, that you may not be judged.
For as you judge, so will you be judged,
and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you.
Why do you notice the splinter in your brother's eye,
but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye?
How can you say to your brother,
'Let me remove that splinter from your eye,'
while the wooden beam is in your eye?
You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first;
then you will see clearly
to remove the splinter from your brother's eye."

In Matthew's writings beginning with chapter five on the Beatitudes he highlights the various teachings of Jesus. His writings give us quick resource to access the expectations of Jesus for how we are to live our daily lives.

I am sure this particular scripture passage has many different points of view.

Let's consider who Jesus is telling to stop judging...If we take the literal context he is spekaing to his disciples. Often we are so busy scrutinizing those around us that we conveniently overlook our own faults and short comings.

Not necessarily intentionally; it just happens.

It is much easier to censor the other guy than oneself.

We have reality shows that encourage us to judge others from their performance to their appearance. We have advertisements making us believe that to judge our own appearance makes us desire plastic surgery.

We are never satisfied it seems.

Judging others implies that you are making some assumptions about that person.

Asumptions are dangerous since we cannot really know the intentions of a person's heart....only God knows their heart. And we usually do not have all of the facts.

Years ago I was panelled to be on a murder trial where the mother killed all of her children. Thank God I was not chosen because I was not sure I could have convicted her of manslaughter. In my mind I could not imagine a mother killing her children unless she was extrememly mentally ill.

The prosecution took that as an opportunity to strike me f$orm the jury pool.

I can honestly say I was glad to not have to serve on that trial.

But even in a jury trial the jury does not have all of the facts. Many times you are mandated by the judge to only consider certain sections of the testimony.

Judging others is a pretty risky undertaking.

We get what we sow very often in life.

Giving others the benefit of the doubt is more Christian

than judging and condemning.

Judging others can also be an attempt to divert attention from yourself.

If you make enough noise with your judgement of others

people will be distracted and not focus on your issues.

So which side of the fence do you fall on?

Are you quick to judge?

Do you seek the truth?

Do you give others the benefit of the doubt?

These are not easy questions.

Sometimes past experiences with a person can frame

your attitude of judgement toward them.

Even a tiny splinter can cause great pain and discomfort.