Matthew 7:1-5 - Brutal Truth?

Don’t judge? Or don’t be self-righteous?

Matthew 7:1-5 TPT
“Refuse to be a critic full of bias toward others, and you will not be judged. For you’ll be judged by the same standard that you’ve used to judge others. The measurement you use on them will be used on you. Why would you focus on the flaw in someone else’s life and fail to notice the glaring flaws of your own? How could you say to your friend, ‘Let me show you where you’re wrong,’ when you’re guilty of even more? You’re being hypercritical and a hypocrite! First acknowledge and deal with your own ‘blind spots,’ and then you’ll be capable of dealing with the ‘blind spot’ of your friend.

Father,

Thank you for Correcting this all too human flaw. Help me to not fall into this trap, where because there is something I hate in myself, I see it more clearly in others and cannot help but pick at it. Help me to be more humble and filter those things out before I go “there” with others. Help me to have grace for them and more grace for myself, so that I can be more loving toward them. Help love to be my primary m.o., rather than impossible standards. In Jesus’ name,
Amen.

So, as usual, TPT says it very differently from most other translations, the concepts are still there, but instead of black & white outlines, the picture is significantly more finished for us. It makes it more clear that it isn’t about unjustified judgments, but rather an attitude of fault-finding, usually to draw attention from oneself in those areas. Come at issues from a stance of, “Hey, friend, I struggle or have struggled in “x” area, too. How can I help you to overcome this?” vs “You suck! You are horrible at life because of “x”.”

How would you prefer someone to approach you about something that you struggle with? Are you the insufferable critic? Why do you do that? I am not saying that problem areas do not need to be addressed, or that we need to go snowflake, here. What the Word says, here, is that if we choose to be brutal with others, that same brutality will come back to us. Is that something that you want to deal with? Are you ready to get back what you dish out? How do you respond when that does come back to you?

This passage is a reminder of something that we more or less know implicitly, but many choose to ignore. Let’s reflect some more… what are some areas in your life that you like to gloss over? Which areas are you less than merciful with others in? (Those are probably the same areas, as the latter is a strong indicator for the former.) Ask the Lord to reveal these trouble spots and blind spots to you, then ask Him to help you deal with those things so that you can be more whole and less ugly towards others. Ask Him to pour out His love on you afresh and to teach you how to better relate with others. I can be brutal in the name of being “bluntly honest”, as my wife can attest (certain things from the early days of our marriage still come up, like comments I made about her cooking, nearly 10 years ago, and I can tell that they still bother her). I never intended to hurt her in any way, but my bluntness did just that, and I still hear about it on occasion. I try to be much less intense in my honesty now, and marriage has been a smoothing out process for me, not that I am anywhere near perfect now, but I am closer (I hope).
There is a phrase that I grew up around that is very applicable, here, “Truth is hard unless it is softened by Love. Love is soft unless it is toughened up by Truth.” We must always balance the two, so that we neither become doormats, nor taskmasters with those around us.