Practice 4 of 13
Don’t judge
Start with yourself.
Key points
- The practice: Start with yourself.
- Try this week: When you catch yourself judging someone this week, stop and think of one thing you don’t know about their day.
- The good news: The one person with every right to judge you came to save you instead.
What Jesus did and taught
The speck and the beam
Jesus paints a funny picture. Someone has a huge beam of wood stuck in their own eye. They are trying to pick a tiny speck out of a friend’s eye.
The point is easy to remember. We see other people’s faults clearly, and miss our own.
“First remove the beam out of your own eye”
Matthew 7:5
Find it: Matthew 7:1–5
Read Matthew 7:1–5
1 “Don’t judge, so that you won’t be judged. 2 For with whatever judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with whatever measure you measure, it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but don’t consider the beam that is in your own eye? 4 Or how will you tell your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye;’ and behold, the beam is in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite! First remove the beam out of your own eye, and then you can see clearly to remove the speck out of your brother’s eye.
World English Bible, public domain. The whole chapter on Free Scripture → · Read in the NRSVue, the ELCA’s standard translation →
Why it matters
Judging people makes us feel bigger and makes them feel smaller.
Jesus doesn’t say wrong doesn’t matter. He says start with your own.
Try this week
When you catch yourself judging someone this week, stop and think of one thing you don’t know about their day.
Low-energy week? Notice one judgment you make today. Just notice it.
A question to carry
What might be the beam in your own eye?
With kids
Draw the person with the beam in their eye. It’s a silly picture, and they’ll remember it.
Go deeper
The good news
The one person with every right to judge you came to save you instead.
You don’t earn anything by doing this practice. Why it starts with grace