Dave's Diary

Prayer

Before you read, I invite you to pray this prayer based on Psalm 119:52-53:

LORD, help me to remember your ancient laws, and to find comfort in them;
and when indignation grips me because of the wicked who have forsaken Your law,
help me to walk in Your mercy and grace..
Amen.

Briefly prepare your heart in silence, and ask the Holy Spirit to awaken your awareness to the voice of God, coming to you through His Word.

Reading

Matthew 7:1-6 

The approach Jesus teaches in this passage is this: When we feel moved to deal with sin and bring correction to a believer, we should always first do so in front of a mirror! He calls us first to focus on dealing honestly with our own sins and shortcomings. Most importantly, it seems, He wants us to get rid of all pride, arrogance and self-righteousness,

Only after we have checked and corrected our own lives and hearts will we be in a position to act lovingly towards a brother- or sister-in-Christ who needs help overcoming something sinful. Until then, our attempts to “help” will inevitably be affected negatively by the poor attitudes of our hearts, and they will never be truly loving.

Truth be told, once we have done this internal checking and correcting, we will very often realise that the other person’s shortcoming is actually fairly irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.

Verse 6 warns us that if, after correcting ourselves, we do still feel compelled to offer loving input and potential correction to someone else, we should be exceptionally discerning. My reading of the rather cryptic v.6 is that Jesus is advising us not to offer words of loving, constructive feedback, input or criticism to everyone. We ought only to offer it to those who actually desire it.

Jesus is not calling people ‘pigs’ and ‘dogs’ here. These are metaphorical, idiomatic sayings. The point is that a pig does not care two hoots about pearls. Likewise, a dog does not care whether something is a sacred object or not. And finally, a person who is not particularly phased by whether his/her life is pleasing to God will not care what we think God has to say to them.

These are metaphors to help us see the foolishness of a Christian thinking that it will add any value to offer “helpful Christian input” to someone who clearly does not want it. Constructive input should be something that we actually give to those who have given us permission to do so or have even come to us seeking our input. Otherwise it is inclined to be a waste of our breath and also potentially harmful.

Contemplation

Please take time to ponder what Jesus has commanded us. Turn these declarations over in your mind. Keep them in mind throughout the day and live in step with Your King, Jesus.

As a disciple of Jesus Christ: 

• I will bring correction to myself as a matter of self-discipline;
• I will only offer loving correction to other believers after very careful prayer and discernment – and after checking my heart for any pride or spirit of superiority.

Lord, purify my heart of pride, and give me Your heart of humility, grace and mercy. Amen.