| Judging Others | 5 Jul 2004 |
I just had a quarrel with a very dear friend of mine regarding the ever-familiar verse ‘Do not be yoked with unbelievers’. My heart goes out to every cell leader who has had the unpleasant duty of bringing this verse up to a cell member who has a relationship with a non-Christian.
Have you ever had the feeling of exasperation, because it seems so clear what is right and ought to be done, and yet someone chooses not to do it? I was frustrated further because it concerns a dear friend. And there I went, feeling as if the righteous wrath of God was descending.
And then came God’s gentle rebuke in a all-too-familiar verse.
“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.”
Matthew 7: 1-5
God reminded me that we all have our own Achilles’ heels, and some of us struggle with certain things more than others do. While I think it is obvious that a Christian should not be in a courtship with a non-Christian, I succumb to other sins, which would probably be obvious to other people that I should not be committing. What my friend was angry about, and what God also reminded, is that in admonition, I had forgotten to extend grace.
Sometimes, even though we may mean well in kind correction, we may come across as harsh, judgmental or holier-than-thou, and I see that becoming counter-productive in this quarrel with my friend. My point of view wasn’t wrong, but the delivery went haywire.
Teach me to show grace, Lord, just as You have shown me, and give me wisdom
that I may know how best to!
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