With what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you —Matthew 7:2
We tend to treat this statement of the Lord as hyperbole., an exaggeration. Surely, He did not mean this literally. According to OC, He very much means it. “This statement is not some haphazard theory, but it is an eternal law of God.
We need to stop and think about this because we are, oh so quick to judge others. The sad thing is the things we judge others for are generally the things of which we ourselves are guilty. It is, after all, the reason we are so good at recognizing the fault in others: it’s all too familar.
Our course is to be as humble as possible. To recognize that even the vilest thing we observe in others lurks in our hearts. If such vileness has not arisen in our lives is not thanks to us, but to the enduring grace of God.The greatest characteristic of a saint is humility, as evidenced by being able to say honestly and humbly, “Yes, all those, as well as other evils, would have been exhibited in me if it were not for the grace of God. Therefore, I have no right to judge.”
Jesus said, “Judge not, that you be not judged” ( Matthew 7:1 ). He went on to say, in effect, “If you do judge, you will be judged in exactly the same way.” Who of us would dare to stand before God and say, “My God, judge me as I have judged others”? We have judged others as sinners— if God should judge us in the same way, we would be condemned to hell. Yet God judges us on the basis of the miraculous atonement by the Cross of Christ.
It, as always, goes back to the Cross. It’s where we should leave our judgments and from where we should rejoice in our blessings.
Nick
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