Key Verse: Verse 5 - “Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.”
Key Words: Thou hypocrite
Most people read the first two words of verse 1, “Judge not,” and then take off and run with it.
In reality, we have to judge others. Let me explain. The word judge means to render a decision, to come to a conclusion. For example, Sanballat and Tobiah sent for Nehemiah to come, talk and negotiate (Nehemiah 6:1-2). He judged that all they wanted was to do him mischief.
Paul said in I Corinthians 4:5a, “Therefore judge nothing before the time….” But he did not say, “Don’t judge.” It’s not that we shouldn’t judge, it is that our judgment should be right, or righteous judgment.
John 7:24, “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.”
There are two principles here. First, don’t judge without all the facts. Secondly, (and here is what Jesus was teaching in Matthew 7) hypocrites are not to judge their brother who has a mote (speck) in his eye when he has a beam in his eye, “thou hypocrite.”
A hypocrite is someone pretending to be something that he is not.
A professor of ethics at a leading university was attending a convention. He and another teacher of philosophy had lunch at a restaurant and were discussing deep issues of truth and morality. Before they left the table, the professor slipped the silverware into his pocket. Noticing his colleague’s puzzled look, he explained, “I just teach ethics. I need the spoons.”
✞ Live your life so you wouldn’t be ashamed to sell the family parrot to the town gossip.
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