Mt 7:1-5
Judging others: Matthew’s theology is that the way people deal with each other in the community corresponds with how God deals with people. There is a difference between recognizing the faults of another and judging that person. Using hyperbolic language to get the point across, Jesus asks why one notices the splinter in another’s eye but does not see the wooden beam in one’s own. Those who are judgmental usually do not see their own faults.
Judging others: Matthew’s theology is that the way people deal with each other in the community corresponds with how God deals with people. There is a difference between recognizing the faults of another and judging that person. Using hyperbolic language to get the point across, Jesus asks why one notices the splinter in another’s eye but does not see the wooden beam in one’s own. Those who are judgmental usually do not see their own faults.
Before pointing out the fault of others, we should first examine ourselves carefully to determine if we possess the same fault. Contemporary psychology would concur that we tend to readily dislike in others what we dislike in ourselves. Once the fault is recognized, then we can point out the faults of others in a spirit of charity.
This is the attitude which is needed if one member of the community is to correct another member. The person doing the correcting must always realize how much greater his or her faults are in comparison to the person he or she is correcting.
This attitude eliminates or at least reduces our judgments of one another; it gets rid of arrogance; it keeps us from forgetting our own sinfulness.
Just as one person helps another in the community to extract the splinter from his or her eye, so God helps us all to remove the wooden beams from our own eyes. If God does not judge (but, rather, helps), then we should not judge (but, like God, should help others).