Meeting Jesus - Receiving What We Give
In High School I had long hair, bad acne, and mostly did what I wanted to. š I rarely studied for tests. I did my homework if I felt like it. With no effort, I was a straight B student. I was suspended from school for 15 days for going to school drunk on moonshine. Another time I was suspended for fighting.
One month after I graduated HS, I gave my life to Jesus. I began growing in my faith, reading my bible daily, and living for Him. After roughly FOUR years, I had a desire to go to College ā but I didnāt know where to start. Even though I had been out of High School for four years, I scheduled an appointment with my HS Guidance Counselor.
I explained to her that I had given my life to Jesus right after I graduatedā¦I was a Sunday School teacher, a youth volunteer, and I had served for one year as a church planter in Ohioā¦AND NOWā¦I needed some help and guidance from the only person I knew who could help me. My Guidance counselor looked at me and made a judgement based on my past life. She did not see the new life I had begun living. She only saw the Sophomore that came to school drunk on moonshine and threw up everywhere. She did not see the SS teacher. She saw the boy that got suspended from school for fighting.
She only saw my past and politely said to me, āJoe. Some people arenāt meant to go to collegeā¦ā. In that moment ā I realized that some people will never let you move on from your past. But my guidance counselor is not the only person guilty of judging other people ā I have been guilty of Judging others as well. And I bet you have too.
Luke 6:37-42
āDo not judge others, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn others, or it will all come back against you. Forgive others, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in fullāpressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.ā 39 Then Jesus gave the following illustration: āCan one blind person lead another? Wonāt they both fall into a ditch? 40 Students are not greater than their teacher. But the student who is fully trained will become like the teacher. 41 āAnd why worry about a speck in your friendās eye when you have a log in your own? 42 How can you think of saying, āFriend, let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,ā when you canāt see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friendās eye.
First, I want to make sure we understand what JUDGING is.
JUDGING IS NIT-PICKING THINGS THAT DO NOT MATTER.
Nit picking can kind of look like how my youngest daughter eats her food. She will not eat her food if it touches something else on her plate. All the food on her plate is going to get squished about by her teeth, smashed with her tongue, and digested by her stomachā¦but she wonāt eat her toast if it touches her scrambled eggs.
That is nit-picking! Most of the time when we make initial judgements about other people, we judge them based on things that do not matter:
We focus on their hair style.
Whether they have too many tattoos.
Whether they do not have enough tattoos.
Their clothes.
Their educational level.
Their occupation.
Their former occupation.
Their family.
Their marriages.
Their past lives.
Whether they drink.
Whether they smokeā¦
That is nit-picking.
None of these things matter.
As followers of Jesus, it is our purpose to LOVE GOD and LOVE OTHERSā¦and it is impossible to LOVE people if we nit-pick them to death. But this passage has so much more that we need to apply to our lives than judging othersā¦
We can also learnā¦
WE REAP WHAT WE SOW, SO SOW LOVE GENEROUSLY.
Luke 6:37
āDo not judge others, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn others, or it will all come back against you. Forgive others, and you will be forgiven.
Have you ever wondered why people criticize you?
Have you ever wondered why other people give you the elevator eyes?
Have you ever wondered why people gossip about you, spread rumors about you, and speak negatively about your character?
I have.
And ā the hard truth in this passage is āwe reap what we sowā. If I judge others, I get judged by others. If I condemn others, I get condemned. If I nit-pick other people ā other people are going to nit-pick me.
BUT ā If I sow LOVE to others, I will receive love from others. If I sow grace and forgiveness, I will receive grace and forgiveness.
I have been told to wear certain types of clothes when I preach. I have been told to wear a tie. A suit. I have been told to wear Jeans, get a different haircut, shave my beard, grow a beardā¦
Nit picking others stinks ā so sow love generously!
It is a very simple practical step of faith. If we claim to be a follower of Jesus. If we have asked Jesus to forgive us for our own arrogance, our own pride, our own selfish sinful behavior, then as recipients of HIS GRACE we ought to treat all others with GRACE and KINDNESS. It only makes sense. We have been forgiven ā we ought to give REAL forgiveness to others. We have been shown MERCY ā we ought to show REAL mercy to others. So ā we still have this little Judge living inside of usā¦so what do we do with our judgmental behavior?
In verse 41 Jesus askedā¦
Luke 6:41
āAnd why worry about a speck in your friendās eye when you have a log in your own?
That meansā¦
WE ALL HAVE A BLINDSPOT.
Within the last week I have seen three fender benders in about the same spot at 501 and Forestbrook. Shifting lanes and merging with traffic is hard. Our minivan has a blindspot monitoring system. If I begin to shift lanes and a vehicle is in my blind-spot, lights on my dash blink and a noise alerts me. While shifting lanes, I have to continually stretch my neck around to make sure that another driver isnāt in my blind spot. My little cars f=do not have that feature. I almost ran one driver off the road and cut off another driver who waved at me with one finger as he passed.
We all have BLIND SPOTS of sin in our lives. Sin that other people can see from afar, but it is so close to us personally it is harder to see.
It could be bitterness.
Resentment.
Unforgiveness.
An ambivalent attitude toward sin.
An unloving spirit.
A gruff and harsh tone with other peopleā¦
An addiction.
A lack of self-controlā¦
Are you aware of your blind-spot? Are you aware of that speck that ālogā in your own eye?
Listen to what Jesus said:
Luke 6:41-42
āAnd why worry about a speck in your friendās eye when you have a log in your own? 42 How can you think of saying, āFriend, let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,ā when you canāt see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friendās eye.
We ought to be our own harshest critic.
Instead of JUDGING others, we ought to JUDGE ourselves.
We ought to examine our own heart. Our own motives. Our own actions. Our own lives.
We should never ignore SIN when it begins to take root in our lives. We ought to turn our nit-picking onto ourselves. On a regular basis, we ought to sit down with a copy of Godās word that we can read and understand and allow it to speak to us and change us.
We should not fear being transparent and honest before God. Jesus has already paid the penalty for your sin. For my sin. God is not going to punish you for your sin ā we couldnāt bear it if he did. Rather, as a follower of Jesus God desires to continue to bring CHANGE to you. Regardless of your age. Regardless of your past.
See ā If I am a liar and I sit down with God on a regular basis ā God is going to change me from a liar to an honest person. His character is going to RUB OFF onto me.
If I am a drunk and sit down with Godās word on a regular basis ā God is going to rescue me and sober me up. His character is going to sharpen me.
If I am a thief and sit down with Godās word ā he is going to change and transform me. His Character is going to gradually make me more like HIM.
As God reveals those BLINDSPOTS in my life and I confess and remove them ā THEN I can help other people who have been where I have been.
So can you! I believe God wants you toā¦
INSPIRE OTHERS BY CELEBRATING YOUR WINS.
I love the story of the OVERCOMER. Maybe you are the overcomer.
I love the story of an individual who has been beaten down by sin and by life yet somehow God has given them victory. Those stories are inspirational and motivational. If God can work in restoring ātheirā life, then maybe it is not too much of a stretch that HE is able to work in my life.
You are the inspirational story that another follower of Jesus needs to read! That marriage that God redeemed and rescued ā somebody needs to hear how you and your spouse overcame.
That addiction that God rescued you from. There is an addict sitting in our church that needs to hear your story of breaking free!
That cancer diagnosis? That depression? That anxiety? Somebody needs to hear about your win!
Be willing to share your win!
When you share your win, you share HOPE! You help those who are struggling understand that they are not alone and that they too can overcome through the love of Jesus.
Consider getting involved with Celebrate Recovery. They lean on one another in a non-judgmental way. They celebrate wins together and they stick with one another through losses and failures.
Whether we share it in a sermon or on Social Media, countless people can be impacted through hearing your story of how God removed the log from your eyes.
Will you communicate how God has given you that second, third and fourth chance, open your mouth and begin to speak about His Grace in your lives to help others?