I’m sure you have heard the phrase, “what goes around comes around.” We typically trot that phrase out when someone has said something or done something bad to us. How often do we apply it to what we say to others or how we treat others? The truth is, the principle works both ways. The principle is reaping and sowing. We see it throughout the Bible, including in our text today. Matthew 7:1-2 says, “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.”
I would argue that this is one of the most misused Bible verses in all of the Bible. I say that because people typically only say, “judge not, that you be not judged.” They say it when someone is calling them out about something. The problem is, they are not applying proper interpretive rules to what Jesus said. They are trying to excuse what they have said or done. Jesus wasn’t telling us as Christians that we are not to judge. Rather, Jesus is saying that we need to be judging our lives as strictly as we are judging other people’s lives. If we go back to Matthew 6, Jesus tells the disciples and the crowd that unless they are their righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees, they won’t see the kingdom of God. While the people probably felt intimidated by that, Jesus was actually setting the bar pretty low. The Pharisees judged everyone else much harsher than they judged themselves. They looked down on the people. Therefore, Jesus was saying, a kingdom citizen doesn’t do that. Instead, a Christian is going to judge themselves more harshly than they judge others. A Christian is going to hold his brothers or sisters accountable for the words they say and the things they do. Not only was Jesus telling the people that they needed to examine their own lives first before others; but Jesus was also telling them to judge others the same way they judge themselves. The rest of verse 1 and 2 show us the principle of reaping and sowing. How I judge someone is the standard of judgment that will be used on me. Therefore, if I want to experience grace, mercy, and forgiveness; I need to extend those things to others. I think there are a few important lessons for us in this text.
- Examine your life. A discipline that we need to learn and practice is self-examination. How do we do that? Through prayer and the study of God’s Word. We need to lay the Word of God over our life and see if we are striving to meet God’s standard or not. I need to learn to examine my thoughts, words, and actions against those of Jesus. I will warn you, this can be a very painful thing at times. However, by examining my life against the Bible, the Holy Spirit can alert me to heart problems. After all, all of our words, thoughts, and actions come from our heart. Therefore, if I have a harsh outburst at someone, that is revealing that in my heart I have some anger that I need the Holy Spirit to deal with.
- Be held and hold others accountable. If I had to pick one reason why so many Christian leaders fall and why so often Christians struggle to grow spiritually, I would say it is because we don’t practice accountability. It is something that we give lip service to, but something we seldom practice. I get why, it can be painful. But it is necessary. Jesus wasn’t saying that we aren’t to judge in Matthew 7. Rather, He was saying don’t hypocritically judge by holding others to a standard that you don’t hold your self to. Accountability is also why I argue that every Christian needs to be a in a discipleship group. A d-group is 3-5 people of the same sex, who are believers. They intentionally meet once a week for prayer, Bible study, encouragement, and accountability. This is different than just attending a worship service or a Sunday school/small group Bible study. This is a small group intentionally. If you aren’t currently in one, I want to encourage you to pray about joining one or starting one. If you have questions, I would be more than happy to pass along information that I have learned and have found incredibly helpful for me personally and the discipleship group I lead.
- Be gracious. In our current culture, the standard is accuse and yell first, and then maybe listen. Even though our judicial system is built on the premise of innocent until proven guilty, oftentimes it feels the other way around. Before you dismiss this, let me ask you a question. If you were to hear the same story, with the same details about a friend and then a stranger, would you give your friend the benefit of the doubt over the stranger? You might be thinking, of course, because I know my friend. Then, I would point out to us that we are doing exactly what Jesus told us not to do. It’s easier to believe what we want to believe about those we know or care about, and it’s easier to believe the worst about someone we don’t know or don’t like. Another example would be this, someone says something hurtful to you. You are upset, but they tell you that they didn’t mean it the way it sounded. However, are you still upset? Probably. Now, put the shoe on the other foot. Let’s say you said something that hurt someone, and when confronted, you told them that you didn’t mean it the way they took it. When they are still upset, do you feel like they are being unfair? Most of the time we do. In this case, we are judging people based on their actions while expecting them to judge us based on our intentions. The point is, be gracious towards others. Give them the benefit of the doubt. Choose to believe them unless you have good and sufficient reason in this instance to not believe them.
None of this is easy, but I would submit that it would do a world of good for your relationships. I can’t plant green beans and get mad when green beans sprout instead of the chocolate that I wanted. What you plant is what you harvest, not only physically but also spiritually and emotionally. So, plant wisely.
By His grace and for His glory,
Pastor Justin