1. What do our eyes see?

“One of the hardest lessons to learn is to leave the cases we do not understand to God.” (Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, Chambers, 70)

2. Should we never question others?

“Here’s the problem with the need for the conscious to see clearly: sin blinds. Sin causes the conscience to be unable to see what it needs to see to sound the moral alarm. And sin not only blinds the conscience so it cannot function as God intended; sin also causes the conscience to be blind to it's blindness. So we think we are seeing clearly and that the alarm system is working well, but in our sin, we are trusting what is blind, and what lives under an idolatrous value system to be morally trustworthy.” (Journey to the Cross, Tripp, 70).

“Some think their critical spirit is a spiritual gift.” (The Sermon on the Mount, Hughes, 232).

”there is nothing more ungodly than a critical spirit.” (The Sermon on the Mount, Hughes, 234)

”Jesus doesn’t condemn us forming an opinion on the conduct of others for it is difficult to not form an opinion on conduct that we see as evil. But Jesus is encouraging us not to form a habit of judging hastily, harshly and without allowing for circumstances and expressing our opinion when we form it.” (https://biblehub.com/commentaries/matthew/7-1.htm)

3. What is our proper response?

”Older people, fearful of their positions, concerned with their prestige, and often disturbed by what they take to be the lack of productivity in their lives, often become singularly defensive, rigid, judgmental, intolerant, even nasty and petty. The young, at least, may grow out of it, but for the old to reject such a long-established pattern of behavior may take a dramatic display of divine intervention, perhaps in the form of a crushing, devastating experience that engenders humility.” (Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount and His Confrontation with the World, Carson, 136)

Romans 14:10 “Why do you pass judgment on your brother?....For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.”

Sermon Questions

1. Tell of a time when you saw a speck in someone else's life, and there was a log in your eye.

2. Can another Biblical reference help us understand this passage effectively?

3. Should we never question people's motives/interactions/decisions? If we can't, why do we? If it is okay, how do we do this effectively?

4. How do we not develop a critical spirit?

5. What do you feel is the heart of Jesus' message on judging?

6. How can we identify if we have a log in our eye?