do not judge

Luke 6:37-42 ^ "Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned. ^ Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure-pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return." ^ And He also spoke a parable to them: "A blind man cannot guide a blind man, can he? Will they not both fall into a pit? ^ A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher. ^ Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? ^ Or how can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,' when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye.

I hope you reread this portion. There is so much to glean. The commentator says we will not be judged so much by God's standards as our own. It is a truism that we hold other people to a much higher standard than our own. Jesus says "don't do it!"

Do not judge. Do not condemn. This means do not hold grudges. Forgive, pardon. So in this context "give" means give good will, give forgiveness. Give love, compassion. It is not about money at all. In short be like you Father in heaven who loves you.

So if you give you will be given back abundantly. But if you judge by any standard, by that same standard you will be judged.

Be careful. What standard are you judging others? Can you live with that same standard? Perhaps you think you can in some areas. But there are other areas where you lose out. I think we forget some areas where we are blind. That seems the concept of the speck and the log. We have blind spots. All of us do. We need to remember to be humble. And we should keep self examining ourselves. Ask God to show us our blind spots and how we are haughty enough to judge others in areas where we ourselves are weak.

Let us be humble before we start to mentor others. Often I try not to give myself to leading someone unless someone else invites me. This does not happen often. So I do volunteer myself. I'm sorry I can't help it. But when I do I hope I am humble about it. If the person I volunteer to help does not want it I try to back away gracefully and not get offended.

There is so much in the passage that I have glossed over. Read it again and see for yourself what God is reminding you of.