Matthew 7

The right attitude toward others

1 "Do not judge, so that you be not judged.*By whom? Perhaps both God and man. 2 Because with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.*The use of the future tense probably points toward God. If we call for judgment, not mercy, on others, by so much we are calling for judgment, not mercy, on ourselves. 3 So why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye but do not consider the plank in your own eye? 4 Or how will you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye,’ when hey, there is a plank in yours? 5 Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.*Can you have a ‘plank’ in your eye without knowing it? (The tiniest bit of grit is an unbearable irritant.) When a person does not want to admit or correct his own failures, it is standard defensive procedure to call attention to the failures of others.