[Jesus speaking]
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.
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.

We make judgments all the time in order to quickly process decisions. I was interviewing a business psychologist, Dr. Roger Hall, for my podcast a few weeks ago and he brought up this idea of Judgmental Heuristics, as we were talking about workplace safety. He went on to explain that our brain automatically makes seemingly at least 1000’s of automatic assumptions each day for us to live. Here are a few examples: 1) We enter our house after unlocking it and assume no one has broken in. 2) We go grocery shopping and buy the large jar of our favorite brand of peanut butter and we assume it has the same ingredients as last time, it is cheaper than the smaller jars by ounce, and it will taste the same.

This is important for us, because these decisions allow us to conserve mental energy and not process so many small decisions over and over again. Yet it can create some real problems in more important things, like workplace safety and our relationship with others.

In the context of this verse, the problem comes when we apply judgmental heuristics to our relationships indiscriminately. Add to this a heart that is, at times, bent on sin, and it is a recipe for disaster. As sinners saved by grace, it is easy for us to slip into the proud position of thinking we are “good enough” without God; that we can judge independently of his help. But God’s righteous standard is perfection, not “good enough”. And if we don’t need God, we, in turn, do not need his grace either.

If we want to think of ourselves as “good enough”, then our brain naturally asks: “Good enough compared to what?” And here is where the problem of judging others begins. We start comparing our personal righteousness to others’ righteousness. And we can do this automatically without even thinking, if we train our brain to do it. We do this instead of going to God as sinners saved by grace and asking for his strength, power, perspective, and grace in dealing with other people.

And the result over time is a very judgmental attitude towards others, where we look for and assume the worst in them. Why? Well honestly, it makes us feel better about ourselves, since we are proud and have forgotten God. We also think we look better and can gain “validation” from others by comparing our good works to those who are collectively disdained. I have gotten caught up in this sin in the past.

I needed to stop with the automatic assumptions of others, unless I had a good reason for these (past and frequent harm, a weapon is presented, etc.). Instead, I need to see them from God’s perspective and apply grace. My first assumption should be: This is a person God designed and cares deeply for and since I am a servant of the Most High God, by definition, I care for them too!

When I do this, I gain access to a renewed application of God’s grace. “YES! I really need it!” With this perspective, I can self-examine myself, and take the plank out of my own eye first. Then, I can lovingly encourage and admonish my family, friends, and those around me.

The “no judgement”/grace reward is this: if we show more and more grace, God will be more and more gracious to us. I really like the idea of basking in God’s grace. How about you?

Lord, thank you that your grace is sufficient for me. I really need it every day! If I focus on my need for your grace, I will naturally give it away to others. Help me to stay humble and ask for renewed grace each day!