Today's Karen's Korner is written by my sister Jill who lives in a suburb of Seattle. She liked her pastor's sermon on Sunday and took notes.

I think you will have to agree she is a good note-taker and good at writing them up. Good message.


How many of you grew up in a church?  Did you know that non-Christians believe that long term Christians can be judgmental?  Be honest, we all make judgments.  We perhaps don’t like how someone dresses, we don’t like their attitude or perhaps how they are living their lives.  But all of us at one time or another have been judged ourselves.  How does it make us feel?  Unpleasant?  Probably didn’t change your behavior did it?  Or we’ve heard ‘we will pray for you’ in a super judging way.

 Jesus said in Matthew 7: 1-5 (NIV)  “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

A summary of this verse is the Golden Rule – treat people as you would like to be treated.  Easy to do? Jesus often used shocking wording in examples to draw people in.  What did He say in the continuing verses?

"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother 'Let me take the speck out of your eye' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?' You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."
 
If you find yourself judging others, stop and ask yourself “why do I care about what someone else is doing”?  You need to look in the mirror first.  There are things wrong with each of us, although it’s hard for us to admit it about ourselves. No one is perfect. 
 
What’s the definition of a hypocrite?  Someone who points out another person’s failings without looking deeply and honestly at themselves. 

What should we do?  Ask ourselves again why it matters so much to us.  Are we jealous?  Are we angry?  If we are angry, we need to unpack our anger and do self-examination to rectify the anger.  Angry people can’t do the work of Jesus. 

Instead, perhaps we should consider “how can I help instead of judge”.  Come alongside people with a helpful and loving spirit instead, with a caring heart and words. It’s our job as Christians to build up instead of tear down. If we do that, perhaps we are living more like Christ.