Message: Planks and Specks

Speaker: Greg Holder

Service Date: November 10, 2019 Plain Print Version

"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."

Matthew 7:1-5

The primary point in these verses is: Do. Not. Judge.

The question is around the definition of "judge".  To judge can mean different things.

    1. Discernment: To learn to distinguish between good and bad, right and wrong, etc. 

    2. Condemning: To place judge on and decide when someone else is wrong or bad, to decide a consequence

DISCUSSION:

    -What is the danger is either extreme: to have a habit of judging others harshly or to believe there is no right or wrong.

    -What does it mean to have a plank in your own eye? What steps can we take to make sure we are dealing with our own "plank"?

    -Discuss the cycle of judging and how that can come back on you.

There is therefore, now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:1

DISCUSSION:

    -Discuss this verse and how it relates to how we see others and ourselves in light of "judgement".

We are on level ground at the foot of the cross. 

You are loved at the foot of the cross. I am loved at the foot of the cross.

DISCUSSION:

    -How do both of those truths affect how we judge others and ourselves?

    -Which is, or has been, more difficult for you: Understanding how deeply others are loved and are covered by grace? or Understanding how       deeply YOU are loved and covered by grace? Both will help you balance discernment from condemning.