*Matthew 7:1-12
Jesus warns against judging others and instructs followers to ask, seek, and knock to receive from God.
- Judging Others: The passage opens with a famous admonition against judgment, urging readers not to judge others if they don’t want to be judged themselves. It emphasizes the importance of understanding that the standards by which we judge others will also be applied to us.
- Hyperbole in Judgment: Jesus employs hyperbolic language, cautioning against the tendency to nitpick flaws in others while ignoring our own faults. He uses the metaphor of a speck of sawdust versus a plank of wood in the eye to illustrate this point vividly.
- Self-Reflection and Correction: The passage encourages self-reflection before attempting to correct others. Jesus advises removing the metaphorical plank from one’s own eye before attempting to remove the speck from someone else’s eye. This emphasizes the importance of humility and self-awareness.
- Casting Pearls Before Swine: Jesus warns against giving what is holy to dogs or casting pearls before swine, implying that some people may not appreciate or understand valuable truths and may even trample them. This suggests discernment in sharing spiritual insights.
- Ask, Seek, Knock: Jesus encourages persistence in prayer, assuring that those who ask, seek, and knock will receive, find, and have doors opened to them. This highlights the importance of persistence and faith in seeking God’s guidance and provision.
- Golden Rule: The passage concludes with the Golden Rule: “Do to others what you would have them do to you.” This principle encapsulates the essence of ethical behavior and interpersonal relationships, urging empathy and kindness towards others.
Matthew 7:1-12 teaches us to treat others with kindness and fairness, just as we want to be treated. Jesus warns us not to judge others harshly because we all have our own flaws. Instead of focusing on others’ mistakes, we should work on improving ourselves. He also encourages us to pray and trust that God will provide what is best for us. This passage reminds us to be patient, forgiving, and generous, knowing that the way we treat others reflects our love for God.
Matthew 7:1-12 (WEB)
7:1 “Don’t judge, so that you won’t be judged. 2 For with whatever judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with whatever measure you measure, it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but don’t consider the beam that is in your own eye? 4 Or how will you tell your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye,’ and behold, the beam is in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite! First remove the beam out of your own eye, and then you can see clearly to remove the speck out of your brother’s eye.6 “Don’t give that which is holy to the dogs, neither throw your pearls before the pigs, lest perhaps they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.7 “Ask, and it will be given you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened for you. 8 For everyone who asks receives. He who seeks finds. To him who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or who is there among you who, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, who will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! 12 Therefore, whatever you desire for men to do to you, you shall also do to them; for this is the law and the prophets.