do not judge, or you too will be judged. for in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
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? how 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?
you 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.
new day.
amen to that. i'll even take it a step further. i think people read that and think, "in order for it to be ok to judge, i just need to make sure i'm blameless first." of course, when asked, no one will say, "yea i'm completely without sin". but people believe they are functionally blameless, that is, they say, "I've lead a good life, followed the rules, etc...way more so than such and such person over there." they are functionally blameless, as if having to earn their salvation. it is the moralists that read these verses and functionally believe that they are holy enough to judge others. i don't think the message of these verses is to make sure you are a certain amount of holy before you can go ahead and judge another. nor do i think it is saying that we should never judge one another. what i believe it's saying is that we shouldn't judge without examining ourselves first, because it is only when you know the depths of your own depravity that you can tell truth to another with love. it has been said that the only one qualified to admonish or judge another for their sin is the one that truly believes he, too, is capable of committing it.
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