CLEAN UP YOUR OWN BACKYARD
Clean up Your Own Backyard
Richard Bradley
Matthew 7:1-6
I grew up in an era when kids still had chores. Most of my chores had something to do with the outside. Basically, I was the yard work technician of the family. I was out in that yard late one afternoon when my dad came in. I remember mentioning to him how messy the neighbor's yard was getting. His only response was, ''It looks like our grass in the backyard is getting a little high, doesn't it?'' Sound familiar? This is more or less what Jesus said in today's passage. His concern was that His disciples not be so concerned with others that they failed to pay attention to their own lives.
Jesus often used hyperbole to explain difficult or hard to understand concepts so his followers would never forget the lesson. Who would not remember a picture of someone with a piece of firewood sticking out of their own eye trying help someone with a speck of sawdust in theirs?
There are very few occasions in Scripture where we are encouraged to think about ourselves first but this is one. Jesus encouraged His followers to cast a critical eye on themselves before judging others.
Matthew 7:1-6
1 ''Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. 2 For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged. 3 ''And why worry about a speck in your friend's eye when you have a log in your own? 4 How can you think of saying to your friend, 'Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,' when you can't see past the log in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend's eye. 6 ''Don't waste what is holy on people who are unholy. Don't throw your pearls to pigs! They will trample the pearls, then turn and attack you.
Several heavenly thoughts on judging.
JUDGMENT'S DEFINITION
1 ''Do not judge others, and you will not be judged.
As with ...
Richard Bradley
Matthew 7:1-6
I grew up in an era when kids still had chores. Most of my chores had something to do with the outside. Basically, I was the yard work technician of the family. I was out in that yard late one afternoon when my dad came in. I remember mentioning to him how messy the neighbor's yard was getting. His only response was, ''It looks like our grass in the backyard is getting a little high, doesn't it?'' Sound familiar? This is more or less what Jesus said in today's passage. His concern was that His disciples not be so concerned with others that they failed to pay attention to their own lives.
Jesus often used hyperbole to explain difficult or hard to understand concepts so his followers would never forget the lesson. Who would not remember a picture of someone with a piece of firewood sticking out of their own eye trying help someone with a speck of sawdust in theirs?
There are very few occasions in Scripture where we are encouraged to think about ourselves first but this is one. Jesus encouraged His followers to cast a critical eye on themselves before judging others.
Matthew 7:1-6
1 ''Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. 2 For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged. 3 ''And why worry about a speck in your friend's eye when you have a log in your own? 4 How can you think of saying to your friend, 'Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,' when you can't see past the log in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend's eye. 6 ''Don't waste what is holy on people who are unholy. Don't throw your pearls to pigs! They will trample the pearls, then turn and attack you.
Several heavenly thoughts on judging.
JUDGMENT'S DEFINITION
1 ''Do not judge others, and you will not be judged.
As with ...
There are 5425 characters in the full content. This excerpt only shows a 2000 character sample of the full content.
Price: $5.99 or 1 credit
