Imagine using our judgment of others to serve them rather than ourselves. Imagine instead of categorising people so we can feel better, we see our wrongs clearly enough to lay aside self-righteousness so we may better serve the people we criticise. Imagine we ask, seek and knock in regular prayer that God would put to death in us all the things in us that are dying (our sins) and fill us with the character of God that Jesus has been describing in his sermon.
Our world is full of judgmental people, in contrast, Jesus says his followers are to be grace-full people who can help those who want to be helped with their wrongs rather than condemn them. [Audio | Notes]
Michael Flynn
Audio
Matthew 7.1-12 | How to evaluate others
The comparison game we play
Judgment is not to justify us
But to serve others
Judgement, condemnation or judgmentalism? (1.2)
Judging our brothers and sisters (3-5)
Judging those opposed to the Kingdom of Heaven (6)
Praying to become just (7-11)
Using self-love to imitate God (12)
For further thought
Q: Write down for yourself only a reflection on how you assess others. If you applied these criteria to yourself, how would you react (2)?
Q: How can we harm others and ourselves by being judgmental (3-5)?
Q: In what personal or social situations should we be silent or withdraw from the debate (6)? What happens if we don’t?
Q: Why do we need to consistently seek the grace of God to change us (7-11) just so we can be fair to others (12)?