Matthew 7:1-5

3-25-2010
Matthew 7:1-5

My wife and I have a few companies we own, and with companies come employees. Everyone that works for me absolutely loves my wife, because she is the one that keeps me under control. Fact of the matter is I am tough. I can’t stand falling short of excellence. Better yet, I can’t stand falling short of perfection, and when we fall short I make sure everyone is aware and expect improvement. While this is a strength, this is also a weakness. One of our employees said it best when she said, “Logan, very few people can handle your pace!” In other words, I need to lighten up a little bit and stop expecting the impossible out of people. Not only do I need to be realistic with my expectations on others, I need to understand the biblical perspective.

Matthew 7:1-5 says the following:
1"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
3"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.”

Though Matthew 7:1-5 speak directly to the judgmental attitude of many, I read these versus and found another important learning point. Don’t be hard on people!
A buddy of mine found himself in a similar situation and said, “we all aren’t that different, just some people know it and then we realize it,” In other words, we all have flaws and issues, and the sooner we can realize this the easier we are on others. We aren’t all the same, and we don’t all run at the same pace. We need to love people not only for who they are, but also for the way God created them. For instance, you can prod a mule all day long, but it’s still not going to win the Kentucky Derby. You have to get a horse!!!

As I read Mattew 7:1-5 I can’t help but think about how hard I can be on people. There’s a fine line between getting the best out of someone and expecting the impossible. God created all of us the way we are for a reason. That doesn’t mean we don’t have room for improvement, but what it does mean is to find the best in people and encourage them. It’s easy to find the bad in people and in situations. God desires us to find the good in all things!