"Judge not..."

  I just realized something tonight as I was reading the verse in Matthew about judging others and how we will be judged by the same measure as we judge others. I usually see the verse used when a person is trying to counter a judgement made on them by someone else. I have used it in the same way. Yet when I thought about it again, I found that in using that verse, I am still judging another person; I am judging someone for judging. It's like a neverending cycle of judgement that continually comes back to "look at that log in your own eye!". I am just as much a sinner as every other human being. I need Jesus to save me from my sin too, and I am not above the person who judges me just because I know a verse that addresses judging people. 

 True, we are called to keep our brothers and sisters in Christ accountable (and hopefully they will help us out in the same way). A wise friend once said in a discussion about this verse: "Please, by all means, let me know about my speck!" We can't always see our own sins and we need someone to let us know what we're doing so we can deal with them. Jesus doesn't say "look at your log, and ignore your brother's speck." He still ends that statement with "and you will be able to see clearly to get the speck out of your brother's eye." However, looking at our own logs teaches us to be humble and more compassionate towards our brother/sister when we go to "speak the truth in love" (Ephesians 4:15) about their speck. I have learned from experience that it really is the best way to help someone else with their sins (if that truly is my inention, to help and not to judte) only after I have looked at and been honest with God about my own. Otherwise I just end up walking around poking people in the eye because I am blinded by a giant piece of lumber lodged in my cornea. And there's no getting anything resolved in that situation.

"Judge not, that you be not judged.  For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.  Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?  Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye?  You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye." Matthew 7:1-5