ARE YOU A JUDGE OR A TRUE FRIEND?                            Matthew 7:1-5

“Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:” (Ephesians 4:1)

The king who sits on the throne has given us the right and the authority to judge. Yes this Scripture passage appears to say that we are to judge. The context or surrounding discussion tells us this is a contradiction, but a clarification. We do have the right to judge, but we are not to judge one another. We are to judge the world and the world system.

There is a place for exercising discernment in the body of Christ, however. The prerequisite is this, you must remove the beam or wooden plank from your own eye before you presume to point out a splinter in someone else’s. This rule tends to bring us all back to reality. Examine and judge yourself first, and step in line with God. Once you do that, you are responsible to look after the welfare of your spiritual brothers and sisters. That does not mean you should make yourself a busybody, a self-appointed “God cop,” or a gossip practicing under the guise of “sharing caring prayer requests.” Anyone who does this reap exactly what he sows. When we see love falling into sin or struggling with a difficult burden in their walk, we are authorized to “speak the truth in love” with a pure heart (Ephesians 4:15) We must do this in the compassion, love, and grace of God. Our motivation must not be to pull them down, but to lift them up by removing deception and restoring the bounds of unconditional love.

PRAYER LINE: Lord Jesus, I confess that I need help from my church family. They can see the blind spots in my life. That I cannot see. Their unconditional love and godly faith are indispensable in my growth in the kingdom. (CTC)

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Great blessings are often followed by great temptations.