Memorize: For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again Matt 7:2
The way you judge the intentions, actions and thought of others is the way you too would be judged. In 2 Samuel 12:1-14, King David passed judgment on the offender in the hypothetical story brought before him by prophet Nathan unknown to him that he was passing judgment against himself. Extreme care and caution must be exercised whenever you find yourself occupying the seat of a judge. To avoid falling into this pit, let us learn few lessons from today’s reading, always put yourself in the shoes of those you judge. See every opportunity to judge others as an opportunity to show love.
Secondly, let mercy and fair play be central in all your judgments. See judgment time as an opportunity to show mercy like God. Mathew 5:7 says, “blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy”. One reason some believers are unable to receive mercy is because they withhold mercy from others. Another lesson is, refusing to be hypocrite. A hypocrite is one who has errors but instead of attending to them, he begins to address the errors of others. As long as you can see the errors of others and talk about them but neglect yours, you will succeed in helping them to prepare for heaven while you may never get there.
Remember the story of that unmerciful servant in Matthew 18: 21-35; he obtained mercy for the big debt he owed, but judged another for a much smaller debt, his own mercy was revoked. May God not let the mercy we have received be revoked from us in Jesus name.
“Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye” (Matt. 7:5). Yet another lesson from this passage is that usually, critics have bigger errors than the ones they set to correct. So whenever you sit down as a judge, look out for your big flaws. You might not easily see them but they are not hidden from others.
Before you criticize others, first criticize yourself. For every fault you see in your spouse, look out for five in yourself. In addition, let errors of others always cause you to have self reflection. If you have not corrected yourself, don’t correct others. The right to correct erring individuals is earned. Have you earned this right?
If you have criticized and corrected yourself, then is becomes a crime if you fail to correct those who err. But if your life is replete with flaw, yet you focus on the flaws of others, it is dangerous. I pray that God will open our eyes to see first our mistakes or errors and make conscious effort to correct and amend them before pointing accusing fingers at others in Jesus name Amen.
Mercy, NOT judgement!
Prayer point: O merciful father, help me to be merciful in Jesus name
Key Dose: There is this general believe that you reap what you sow, What are you sowing?
Pastor James Ademuyiwa
Senior Pastor (IHPCT)