Word for the day by Christian Education Forum
Three Day Lent - Repentance
Bible portion Mathew 7:1-5To Judge or Not to Judge
Judge not ,that you be not judged - Mathew 7:1
Devotional Text
Typical resolutions in January are to lose weight , exercise more, spend less time at work and more quality time with family and children , spend less time sticking to phones and other electronic devices, post less remarks in social media, maybe refrain from judging others etc..
Surprisingly, we want to change things in our lives that we are unhappy about,but most of the resolutions will have a short life span of weeks in January .
What better way to tell others to mind their own business than to quote Jesus His remarkable statement from the sermon on the mount “Judge not, that you be not judged “ (V 1) We also use this verse in our spiritual circles when we want to silence someone whose opinion we do not like. Our judgments are to begin with: “ First remove the plank from your own eye ,then you will see clearly to remove speck from your brother's eye .” (V 5) Our tendency is to judge by appearance or without any evidence , but God judges by what we produce , and so should we .
Secondly , we often place before God a simple request after making our prayer supplications as a side note. I am ok,but what will happen to my brother /sister who is not ok in my opinion . A similar query was raised by Apostle Peter to Jesus . (John 21:20-22) Jesus just restored Peter after denial of the master three times . Jesus at His mercy told Peter to “ Follow Me” (John 21:19) Peter had barely any time to understand the depth of this instruction , he made a side note query to Jesus what will happen to the other disciple. Jesus told Peter to obey his instruction to follow Him ,not to worry about other disciples
We are often tempted to focus on the business of others rather than keeping our direct call from God .
PRAYER
Heavenly Father , please help us to keep our new resolution this year to avoid faulty judgements on others ,and to focus more on Jesus . AMEN
Thought for the Day
Lord when I am tempted to point my fingers please remind me to point it at myself.
Oommen Varghese, Epiphany MTC , New York .
Typical resolutions in January are to lose weight , exercise more, spend less time at work and more quality time with family and children , spend less time sticking to phones and other electronic devices, post less remarks in social media, maybe refrain from judging others etc..
Surprisingly, we want to change things in our lives that we are unhappy about,but most of the resolutions will have a short life span of weeks in January .
What better way to tell others to mind their own business than to quote Jesus His remarkable statement from the sermon on the mount “Judge not, that you be not judged “ (V 1) We also use this verse in our spiritual circles when we want to silence someone whose opinion we do not like. Our judgments are to begin with: “ First remove the plank from your own eye ,then you will see clearly to remove speck from your brother's eye .” (V 5) Our tendency is to judge by appearance or without any evidence , but God judges by what we produce , and so should we .
Secondly , we often place before God a simple request after making our prayer supplications as a side note. I am ok,but what will happen to my brother /sister who is not ok in my opinion . A similar query was raised by Apostle Peter to Jesus . (John 21:20-22) Jesus just restored Peter after denial of the master three times . Jesus at His mercy told Peter to “ Follow Me” (John 21:19) Peter had barely any time to understand the depth of this instruction , he made a side note query to Jesus what will happen to the other disciple. Jesus told Peter to obey his instruction to follow Him ,not to worry about other disciples
We are often tempted to focus on the business of others rather than keeping our direct call from God .
PRAYER
Heavenly Father , please help us to keep our new resolution this year to avoid faulty judgements on others ,and to focus more on Jesus . AMEN
Thought for the Day
Lord when I am tempted to point my fingers please remind me to point it at myself.
Oommen Varghese, Epiphany MTC , New York .