Lessons from Matthew 7: Careful Judgment
When’s the last time you had a physical examination? Recently? Or has it been far too long?
Just like we care for our physical bodies, we as Christians need to go before God for a regular spiritual check-up to allow the Holy Spirit, by the truth of God’s Word and through prayer, to search our hearts, minds, attitudes, and motivations. We should ask Him to show us if there is “any wicked ways in us” (Psalm 139:23-24).
When, through His Word or the prompting of the Holy Spirit, it is revealed that sin does indeed dwell or abide within us, we must heed His instructions and obey His commands and allow Him to do spiritual surgery if needed.
Like cancer, sin needs to be cut out of our lives before it spreads and becomes more a part of who we are, not only affecting our own lives but also the lives of those we claim to love. That is what Jesus had been teaching in the last 4 lessons referred to as “The Sermon on the Mount.”
Now, moving into Matthew chapter 7, the focus shifts to the truth that true disciples of Jesus relate to others by humbly seeking God’s wisdom, discernment, and power through prayer.
We see this first in verses 1-6 as Jesus taught His disciples (and us) to be careful in how we judge others. In verses 7-11 Jesus encouraged His disciples to be consistent in prayer. And in verses 12-29, Jesus contrasted those who exercise wisdom and choose wisely with those who choose to follow deadly doctrines.
So let’s begin by looking at how Christians are to exercise careful judgment.
Careful in Judgment
After Jesus had drawn these disciples unto Himself, He moved up the mountain to draw away from the crowds that had begun to gather. He began teaching His new followers and training them on the true meaning of righteousness. This was God’s view of righteousness, not the world’s way of righteous living, nor was it what the Scribes and Pharisees had been teaching.
Jesus’s righteousness could not be earned as the religious leaders had tried to teach. It was and still is His Father’s gift to anyone who confesses Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior by acknowledging that there is no righteousness in them apart from Him.
It means acknowledging that on our own we are sin-filled people who can do no good thing apart from Him.
We must recognize ourselves for who we truly are, sinners in need of a Savior, which is what Jesus said the Old Testament Law pointed out and the sacrificial system also solidified. These things in and of themselves could not save a person; they only served to point to the need of a savior.
So, Jesus said He had come not to abolish these righteous standards, but rather He, the Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world, had come to fulfill them.
He was the perfect sacrifice, holy and blameless in every way. Jesus’s perfect sacrifice on the cross opened up a new way, the perfect way, for His righteousness to be imputed or transferred to His people, those who confess Jesus as both Lord and Savior.
Those who have followed His way and received His grace are to live as He desires by putting Him first and trusting Him to provide everything else.
Those who do this will find that their treasures are not tied up here on earth but rather stored up in heaven. Eternal treasures that far outweigh what this world has to offer.
Jesus taught and trained His disciples and us that those who live for Christ live differently than the world around them. Our lives are not our own. We have been bought at a price and therefore we are to honor God the Father by honoring His Son and following His Word at any cost.
Next, Jesus taught His disciples how to exercise proper judgment.
You see, God did not say that judging in and of itself is wrong. You and I make judgments all day long. God’s Word does teach us that as believers we are to judge:
between good and evil
between that which is righteous and unrighteous
between that which is moral and immoral
between that which is helpful or honorable and that which is destructive
To disregard these things is to say that anything goes, all is on level ground, which is exactly what the world around us tries to get us to believe in.
Jesus taught that those who follow Him must first examine their own motives and conduct before executing their judgment upon others.
All too often we find that we dislike the very thing in others that we dislike in ourselves. Those bad habits or behaviors that are the least tamed in our own lives bother us the most in others. And we are often harder on others and their sin than we are on ourselves.
Jesus said be careful, because the measure you use to judge others is the same measure by which you will also be judged. It’s the principle of reaping what we sow. If we sow unforgiveness, then unforgiveness from others is what we will receive. But if we forgive others, then we will find that others will too forgive us.
Instead of heaping judgment upon others we are to look at them through the eyes of the Lord, realizing that we too have been forgiven much. We are to forgive as we have been forgiven.
It is the person who truly realizes their sin and the depth of it who is able to exercise wisdom and discernment in judgment.
We must also be careful not to exercise a critical spirit when judging.
Criticism itself is not bad and can be very helpful when done in the right spirit and motive of the heart. It becomes wrong when the intent of the heart is to treat others as if they are less than we are, or as if we are better than they, by fault-finding or by talking about or exposing their flaws or failures.
Jesus warned us against such sinful behavior.
The spiteful spirit of criticism is an art form in our culture, people ripping and tearing each other apart with their words. Unfortunately, it is not void in our Christian culture either, even though some call it by other names such as “prayer” or “concern.”
So be careful and be warned by Jesus’s words. Instead of casting our judgment upon those who are in need of help or the truth of God, we should first seek God in prayer on their behalf. We need to recognize our own bent towards sin and then ask how we may be used by Him to gently lead them back to their first loves: God and obedience to follow Him in all His ways.
Terri Hamman
Faith & Fitness Coach