Save Me From Myself

"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."

Why do I find judgment so easy to pass... especially when judging is contrary to true faith? Your faults just seem so much more apparent than mine are. Maybe I'm full of pride. Maybe I grow too accustommed to my own faults. Maybe I'm just shallow. Maybe there's a 2x4 in the way.

Jesus reserved his harshest words for people with this very problem, the Pharisees. They were experts at the letter of the law, but they completely missed the heart of why the laws were given. They grew to trust in their own religious fervor rather than God's grace.

A friend recently shared a story that he read with me that will become my check on judgmentalism. A preacher and an elder were on their way to talk to a man in their church involved in adultery. On the way, the preacher asked, "Do you think you could ever be tempted by an affair?" The elder responded, "Me? No way." At that, the preacher turned the car around. "We can't do this tonight. You need to get your pride in check before we can do this."

Ephesians 4:15 tells us to speak "the truth in love." The truth may be a sword to fight evil, but it is not a weapon to slash open other people. Which would you rather hear: "Let me tell you your problem, heathen" or "From one flawed person to another, let's try to work on this"? How much more effective could the church be if we could all learn to speak the truth in love?