Jesus tells us to stop judging others and look to fix our own sins first. It’s easier to see other people’s faults and to judge them by their actions, but this is not why we are here on earth. We are not meant to be judges. God is the only reliable judge of what is good and evil. We tend to hear and see what we want to about others. We are biased by our own agendas, moral blind spots, and experiences. We give certain people the benefits of the doubt, while others we don’t trust at all. However, we do not know what is in the hearts of other people, only God knows that. This is why we do not condemn others. We might not condone what they do—after all there are actions which are evil and that we should not stand for. But what we don’t do is make a judgment in regards to another person’s soul. This is why Jesus reminds us to look to ourselves first. We are sinners, too. We might not see our sins as being as bad as someone else’s, but in the end we are not sinless. So before we confront others about their failures and imperfections, we should first address our own. And that can take our entire lives.
Who are the people we have condemned in our lives? What are our sins? How can we learn to love the sinner, but hate the sin?
O Lord, help us remove the beams from our eyes so that we can see how best to know, love and serve our neighbors.
Amen.
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