“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.” (Matthew 7:1, 2)
How many of us are guilty of judging?
This is a hard word. Our method of judging, forming opinions, and determining
right from wrong will be applied to us. When I consider this passage, I don’t
want to face the Judgment. To judge others, form opinions, and criticize comes
so easy, even in the church.
Jesus continues: “‘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 7:3-5).
Jesus said we have so many of our own
mistakes that by judging, we already have something to be judged for. None of
us can throw a stone (John 8:7). Instead, we should sort out our own problems
before concerning ourselves with others’ problems.
We all have so many weaknesses and
battles with sin, it will take a lifetime to conquer our own problems, leaving
no time to worry about others. Why is Jesus so hard on judgment?
The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will
eat its fruit. (Proverbs
18:21)
The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body.
It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of life on fire, and is
itself set on fire by hell. (James 3:6)
What we say
can change people’s destinies. First, there is the fire of gossip, which
determines the opinions that people have of others. We may not know a person,
but we already have a negative opinion of him because of the gossip we’ve
heard. This could close doors of relationship and prevent the Lord’s will from
being done.
I have experienced this. So many
people have lied about me that I hardly recognise myself. The lies were
merciless impressions of behaviour that I never would do. Recently a relief
pharmacist came to work in my store. According to staff and fellow colleagues,
this man has spread horrible stories about me among the other pharmacists in my
city. He had never met me before, yet he spread gossip about me. After a few
hours of working together, he accused me of things I knew nothing about.
Isn’t the tongue evil? My situation
with the pharmacist was instigated in hell, since the devil hates me. I
consider it persecution, since the man brought false testimony against me
because of Jesus (Matthew 5:11). It created a false impression of me and made
my job intolerable.
Judgment and gossip are not fair. How
many times have you listened to gossip and formed an opinion of a person, even
before the two of you met? The gossip created your first impression of the
person. How will you react when you meet? If you hadn’t listened to the gossip,
you would have formed your own opinion when you met. This opinion might be much
different from the one you formed as a result of gossip.
Pastor Mike’s (fictitious name) ministry was ruined as
a result of gossip that Angela started. When Angela (fictitious name) realised what she has done,
she went to Mike asking him what he thought she could do to put things right.
He told her to take the feathers from a pillow and as she walked about town, to
put a feather down on a variety of specific places she thought appropriate. She
did it and when she returned he told her to go and collect all the feathers.
“It would be impossible,” she said,
“by now they would have blown all over town.”
“You’re right,” he said. “Just as it
would be impossible for you to recover your feathers, the damage caused by
gossip can hardly be reversed.”
Our words have powerful effects in
the spiritual realm as well. “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do
not curse,” (Romans
12:14). Most of us even curse our brothers, let alone our persecutors. To be continued.
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