Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - How to Have Better Relationships | New Testament | Matthew 7

Episode Date: January 10, 2023

Do you have a tendency to judge other people who have the same sins as you? Tanyashares from Matthew 7 about how to improve your relationships with others. Step one? Remember who Jesus is and who you are. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Join the TMBT community in reading the entire New Testament in 2023. Get your FREE reading plan here. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it with others, so others can find it too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter@TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: Matthew 7

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. And the time it takes to get to work. I'm Tanya Wilmeth. So about that plank in your eye. You wouldn't dream about walking around all day with a plank in your eye. I can't even get an eyelash in mine without coming completely unglued. Yet, did you know that this is what the Bible tells us we do when we judge others? We are like people walking around with a plank coming out of our eye and, no surprise,

it actually feels terrible. Nevertheless, we keep ignoring the plank because we think it will feel worse to notice it and deal with it than it does to leave it hanging in there. So we're just a bunch of irritable, annoyed people wishing everyone else would fix their own eyepank instead of dealing with our own. What a lot we can become.

However, did you know the Bible also teaches that it is actually far more relieving to notice the plank and yank it out than it is to pretend it's not there. Part of Jesus' teaching on the Sermon of the Mount deals with interpersonal relationships, and that's where we find ourselves in Matthew chapter 7. Not surprisingly,

the very first thing Jesus addresses in this area is our tendency to judge other people while ignoring the exact same sins in our own lives. Jesus says it like this. He says, Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye. Or how can you say to your brother,

let me take that speck out of your eye when there is the log in your own eye. You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. Well, there's a lot there, but we're going to look at all of it. We are really good at peering into the lives and character of other people. If you're a friend, you're quick to notice when someone acts selfishly or pridefully. If you're a parent, you're looking for areas in your children that need growth

and sanctification. We're quick to become irritated when people look at their phones during dinner or coffee out with us, and we monitor the screen time of our kids. We set limits on what we will accept from other people, and we limit what goes into and out of our children's mouths. We are quick to recognize when jealousy and envy create internal and external conflicts with other people. We can even be good at identifying the motives behind our friends, coworkers, and family members, bad moods, and negative behaviors, and pointed out. Certainly, there are times these things need to be addressed. If we're parents, it is our responsibility to help our children address these things.

But Jesus teaches that before we point and say, speak, we have some work to do. We would do much better in our relationships with others if we would first look in our own mirror. At the way our idolatrous obsessions get the best part of our time and our thought life. At the way our vanity influences our words, our behavior, our social media accounts. At the way our selfishness gets in the way of our helpfulness and our forgiveness and our forgiveness and the way we spend our money,

at the way our speech and our mood is motivated by the underlying condition of our hearts. Jesus teaches us that our friends and children, well, they struggle with the exact same sins that we do. We can get better at justifying them, ignoring them, and minimizing them. But unless we deal with them, we're just walking around with a plank sticking out of our eye, and that's kind of stupid. I don't think this is news to us yet we tend to squirm every time we hear it. And I think one of the reasons we squirm is because we don't know what to do.

And I think the other reason we squirm is because we don't really want to do what needs to be done about it. But listen to this. If we felt fully loved and accepted by God in the complete and whole sense for which we are accepted by him through Jesus Christ. We wouldn't judge. We wouldn't judge because we would have no reason to compare and come out on top. Listen to what Paul says about this in 1st Corinthians chapter 4 verses 3 through 5. Paul says, for I do not even judge myself, for I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore, do not pronounce judgment before the time before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now

hidden in darkness, and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God. Paul is talking about how much we don't know about our own selves. There are things that only the Lord can reveal in his light. But we don't need to fear God or his light, because the one who judges us is the one who acquits us. Isn't this amazing? As the Lord brings out the things now hidden in the darkness of our hearts, Jesus Christ stands in our place to receive the judgment. And then with Christ in our place,

it is His work that God judges. And we receive commendation. Hear that. Commendation, not condemnation, two very different things. Is this how it works when we judge other people? No way. We look at other people and judge, condemn, and throw away the key. But this is not the way our merciful and compassionate Lord responds to us.

Bringing our full attention to the log in our own eye can be painful. But that pain is shorter than the long, drawn-out feelings of anxiety and frustration that burdened us when we keep the log in there over time. and we have no reason to fear the pain that comes with addressing the log in our own eye. Addressing it doesn't draw God's attention to something he didn't already know. Rather, it draws our attention to something that is keeping us from fully believing and trusting in Jesus. And if your relationship with God is stable and secure, then you have nothing else to fear. Jesus wants us to address our sins face forward and repent from them. so we can receive the acceptance he has already offered.

This is the fullness we should operate out of before we start addressing sins and others, even our children. Would people say you're a critical person? Would your kids say you're critical? Do you have a tendency to grumble? Chances are you probably can't stand other people who are critical and grumbly. This is usually how it works. You might want to address that critical nature and someone else,

but Jesus teaches that we aren't ready to do that until we address it in ourselves. But when we do put more time and effort into our own sins, we actually will start to see people differently. When we understand how we are forgiven and loved in Christ, we become more aware of His mercy and grace. We taste and see that the Lord is indeed good, and we are transformed to be more like him,

more gracious, more compassionate, more compassionate, ourselves. This is why Jesus commands us to look at our own sins first. When we are humbled and repentant, we are more effective at relating with and shepherding other people. We are better equipped to come alongside people who need to be lovingly confronted. As we walk through the New Testament this year, we are going to get to know the character of Jesus more and more. And we will get to see him firmly and lovingly ask people to examine their own hearts. He does the same for us today. Will you take the opportunity to spend time and pray with him,

asking him to reveal the areas where you are quick to judge others without first examining yourself? Ask him to shine his light on those places and give you the desire and strength to deal with them. It will be exciting and freeing to live more holy in God's vast love. and acceptance. So TMBT has a really cool resource to help you out this year. Our team created a downloadable reading plan for the New Testament.

And when you download it, you'll be able to read a chapter and then listen to the episode that corresponds. It's really easy to find in our show notes. So take a sec, download it, and even share it with a friend. It's a great way to learn more and talk more about Jesus together.