Who Gave You the Gavel?

Why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye but don't notice the log in your own eye?  Or how can you say to your brother, Let me take the speck out of your eye,' and look, there's a log in your eye? Hypocrite! First take the log out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.

Matthew 7:3-5 HCSB

If you know me well enough by now, you know I have a deep abhorrence of hypocrites.  (That's just my being fancy and saying I don't like judgmental people, lol).  I pray daily for an open mind, and that God shows me the beauty in all things and people.  Over the years I have grown to despise the tradition of religion and sought to understand God for myself.  I recognized along the way that there are many people that put God in a box and so if you do not fit in that box, something must be wrong with you.  After coming to terms with my calling, I struggled hard with this.  Modern day preachers and prophets don't fancy a woman speaking her views on God, let alone teaching others about God.  Along with this, I have learned that if you do not look a certain way, talk like this or dress like that, you will garner a certain amount of sideways stares.  I am about as different as they come, well not all the way.  I have several tattoos, dress very fashionably at times, unique at others, love love love heels, and shy away from anything screaming tradition.  So from this I am sure you know my plight, lol.

I love this passage because it reminds us to look first at ourselves.  I'll be the first to admit that I found flaw in everyone, having grown up to pick and point out other people's flaws.  That would be alright for a while, then when I got by myself and looked at myself, I would tear myself apart too, mainly because of the insecurities I had developed out of the things I had experienced growing up.  Out of that birthed the need to protect and defend others, and to stand up for myself.  The first person to say something disrespectful to me they would get their own tongue-lashing back, when I got older and stopped holding my tongue so much.  Then as I grew tired of having to defend myself all the time, I realized the true source of the problem was the enemy and his efforts to discourage me from truly embracing what God wanted for me, which is relationship with himself and our brothers and sisters in Christ.

I will not sit here and write that I have a clean slate for my past.  I have done my share of wrong, made my share of bad choices.  I have hurt people and myself.  But the one thing I have learned is that God forgives.  Just as He is our ultimate judge, He also loves us so much that He will forgive our wrongs without need for anything in return.  We are not the judge and jury (law school joke haha) so what gives us the right to slam the gavel on others?  Now, there is a difference between bringing an issue before your brother or sister in Christ and talking about them and casting judgment.  But the bittersweet part of all of this is that we can only learn the difference when we let God remove the blinders from our eyes that hide our truth.  Don't you want to see with clear vision?  Remove your plank today and really see yourself as you are.

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.  Matthew 7:1-2 NIV