Words to Treasure
Do not judge other people. Then you will not be judged.
Matthew 7:1
James shivered on the log watching Phil make their morning campfire. “You’re not building the fire right.”
Phil gave him a look. “I am doing it right.”
James shook his head. “Fire needs air. You’re choking it with too much wood. You’ll never get it going.”
Phil threw down the last piece of wood. “Same as how I didn’t put the tent up right, I cook my hot dog weird, I don’t paddle the canoe right, and I use the wrong fishing bait. Is there anything I do right?” Phil stormed away. “Build your own fire!”
James has a bad case of the criticals. Some people seem to think it’s their job to tell everybody else what they’re doing wrong. News flash! In real life you are not the celebrity judge on a reality television show. Finding faults with others is wrong and will really bug your friends and family. It doesn’t make you look smart, important, or better either. God isn’t critical of you, because he respects and loves you. So don’t be critical of others either. A critical nature is critically wrong.
Being critical isn’t new. Jesus actually had a lot to say about it. He put it this way. Before you point out your friend’s sawdust-sized faults, make sure you get rid of your own giant plank-sized problems first. In other words, you probably have way bigger faults of your own that you ignore. (See Matthew 7:3 – 4.)