Don’t Judge… Help!

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| Don’t Judge… Help series |

• Don’t Judge.
• Don’t Judge… Help!
• Judgement That’s Loving
• What Does Judging/Helping Look Like?

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As we talk through Jesus’ instruction in Matthew 7 to not judge others, we left off with this verse last week:

First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.

Matthew 7:5

In the first verse of the chapter, Jesus tells us to “Judge not”. We asked the question last week: Does this mean that we are supposed to “live and let live”? This instruction Jesus gives us in verse 5 gives a definitive “No” to that question. Jesus tells us not to pass judgement on someone, but He also tells us not to leave them alone. We aren’t called to judge; we are called to help! What does that mean and how do we do that?

Seeing Clearly

In order to help our brother, Jesus makes it clear that we must first be able to see clearly. Specifically, we have to remove the log out of our own eye to be able to see clearly. We talked about how to do that last time, but It makes perfect sense really. Whenever we are struggling with sin, possibly even the same sin, that sin clouds our perspective and twists our heart motivation in making a judgement about the situation.

Have you ever noticed that when confronted about something (maybe someone says, “you’re being harsh”) we often respond by saying, “well you do that too!” In that response are we really trying to help the other person be less harsh? Was that the best moment and way to bring that up to truly help them with something? Aren’t we just looking to justify our own actions? Sin in our own life drives us to justify and defend ourselves, to put others down to make us feel better, to pass judgement rather than help. When we have something in our own eye, maybe we can see they have something in theirs, but we certainly can’t see clearly enough to help them with it.

In exploring how to remove this log last time, we found that we must rely on and seek out God’s judgement. We need His help to be able to even see our own log clearly; how much more so then do we need His help to be able to see their speck clearly. Even in helping to take the speck out of our brother’s eye, we don’t use our own judgement, we ask God to show us His. In this way, what Jesus says in verse 5, to remove the speck, is consistent with what He says in verse 1, to not judge. Rather than judging, we look to God for discernment, for His judgement. That’s because He alone can see clearly.

A Heart to Help

The process of removing the log from our own eye, also helps to lay the groundwork for us to help remove the speck from our brother’s in another way.

We cannot remove the log from our own eye until we realize the harm it’s causing us. The process of overcoming sin doesn’t center on willpower or knowledge of the law, but on belief in our heart. After all, “the righteous shall live by faith” (Galatians 3:11). Whenever God gives us revelation about the damage that sin does to us, to our relationship with Him, we go from resisting something we want to do, to no longer wanting to do it. Unlike knowing the law in our minds (which leads to judging others), we are inspired to action in our hearts (which leads to wanting to help others).

We are no longer looking to condemn them for violating God’s law in passing judgement. Just the opposite: we long to free them from that condemnation, from the damage that sin does. Not because we don’t sin like them, but because we do, because we have and we know the way it hurt us. We move from a desire to judge them for their sin to a desire to help them overcome it.

So it is that the very process of removing the log from our own eye, enables us to help take the speck out of our brothers. Not only because it teaches us how to see clearly by relying on God’s right judgement, but because it instills in us a heart to help.

In short, this passage in Matthew 7 is telling us simply:

Don’t Judge… Help!

Like we talked about last time, Jesus is overturning our human nature to passively judge someone. In place of it, He’s instructing us to add love and care to that discernment so that we are moved to help them!

Helping vs. Judging

Now, while telling us to “judge not”, Jesus explains this with an instruction to help take the speck out of our brother’s eye. However, helping to remove a speck from our brother’s eye requires us to “see clearly” which implies we are using discernment (e.g., making a judgement they have a speck). How do we reconcile these two things? How is the judgement that Jesus refers to in verse 1 different from the discernment we use to “see clearly”? Next time we’ll dive deeper into how this perspective of “helping” can reconcile several verses on the topics of mercy, judgement and grace in the Bible. More than that, I’m excited to share how God’s character is at the center of this reconciliation. So, as we reconcile these ideas we’ll find lessons not only for our relationships with others, but our relationship with God. Don’t forget to subscribe!!