It Takes One To Know One

I have one of those calendars that has a “thought for the day” then a scripture passage to go along with it.  One day this week the “thought” said this:  “Dear Lord, I know I am responsible for the things I do, think, and say, but I still need Your help in order to do, think, and say things that are a blessing to others and that glorify You.  I don’t want to bring condemnation upon myself, especially when it is only by Your grace that I escape the traps of sin.  Help me to encourage people and pray for them when they hurt me.”  

The scripture that they put with this was Romans 2:1 – “Some of you accuse others of doing wrong. But there is no excuse for what you do. When you judge others, you condemn yourselves, because you are guilty of doing the very same things.”  (CEV)  The Message translation puts part of that passage this way:  “Every time you criticize someone, you condemn yourself. It takes one to know one.”  

As my day went on, I kept thinking about this and how easy it is for us to sometimes point fingers and accuse others of things they say and/or do of being wrong.  It’s so easy to judge others without considering how we may very likely be doing or saying the same things.  We don’t want to admit it though – we want to justify ourselves as though we are perfect and when we do or say it, it’s okay.  But them – well – they are just all kinds of wrong!

We need to be very careful about criticizing others.  In Matthew 7:1-3 (ERV), Jesus spoke about this and was very clear:  “‘Don’t judge others, and God will not judge you. If you judge others, you will be judged the same way you judge them. God will treat you the same way you treat others.  Why do you notice the small piece of dust that is in your friend’s eye, but you don’t notice the big piece of wood that is in your own?’”  OUCH!!  That should give us pause and make us want to be very mindful of being so critical and accusing of others, don’t you agree?

But, when I read that scripture passage from Matthew in the Amplified version, it had this very interesting footnote for verse 1:  “This is not a prohibition of judgment, nor is it a command to stop using godly wisdom, common sense, and moral courage together with God’s written word to discern right from wrong, to distinguish between morality and immorality, and to judge doctrinal truth. There are many judgments that are not only legitimate, but are commanded (cf John 7:24; 1 Cor 5:5, 12; Gal 1:8, 9; 1 John 4:1-3; 2 John 10); however, you cannot judge another if you are committing the same type of sin.”

We need to be very cautious about being an accuser or judge of others. We have a responsibility to live our lives as well as we possibly can before God and others, trying to reflect the love of God and His goodness to them.  If we put forth the effort to get that big piece of wood out of our own eye, then maybe we won’t so easily see that small piece of dust in someone else’s eye; and keep God’s judgment at bay.

Each day during my prayer time I ask God to help me take every thought captive, so that no thought becomes a word or an action that is grievous to Him.  Some days I manage to do pretty well with that, but other days?  Not so much.  Today was a day for eating some humble pie for me – I had to apologize to two different people for things I’d said to them yesterday.  I had to take that big piece of wood out of my eye and confess.  I hope that I was able to head off being judged and any condemnation by God, for likely doing the same things they did that caused my unkindness.

In the past, it’s likely that I rarely or never would’ve taken the step to call someone and apologize for something I’d said – especially if I was convinced that I was in the right.  But being right is not the important thing – being Christ-like is much more important to me these days.  Reflecting Him in all I say and do is my daily goal.  In all my imperfection, I must pray often for His grace and mercy and guidance.  Lord, help me to speak kindness and be an encourager to all I meet each day.

“Gracious words are like a honeycomb,  sweetness to the soul and health to the body.”  (Proverbs 16:24 ESV)

“A well-spoken word at just the right moment is like golden apples in settings of silver.”  (Proverbs 25:11 VOICE)

Written by Karran Martin – May 17, 2024   

[All bold emphasis is mine]