Episode 268: Who Made Me the Judge?

It is so much easier to spot what someone else is doing wrong than to take a hard look in the mirror. In this episode, Dot and Cara work through one of the most quoted and most misunderstood passages in all of Scripture, Matthew 7:1-5, and push past the casual “judge not” bumper sticker to find what Jesus was really getting at. They talk about the difference between judging someone’s actions and pronouncing judgment on their heart, why humility is the only lens that makes us useful to the people we love, and what it looks like to go to God first before you go to anyone else. Pull up a chair, grab your Bible, and lean in with us.Got a question about today’s episode or something else you’d like to hear us talk about on the show? Let us know! Episode RecapIntro (00:00)Write this down: Matthew 7:1-5, the speck and the log (00:00)What Jesus is really saying here — it is not that the speck does not exist, but that you cannot help someone if your own vision is clouded (01:24)“If I can see it, I can do it” — Dot on why the thing you notice most in others is often something worth examining in yourself (01:49)Cara asks for a real-life example, and they land on parenting judgment vs. actual sin — and why motive matters more than the behavior we see (03:33)The Pharisees as the original example: what it looks like when religious confidence becomes a log in your eye (12:03)The woman caught in adultery — one of the best pictures in Scripture of what it looks like when someone drops the stones and approaches with humility instead (13:42)You are probably capable of more than you think — why “I would never” is one of the most dangerous things a Christian can say (16:03)The relationship rule: you have to be invited in before you speak into someone’s life, and being invited once does not mean forever (21:42)Practical wisdom from Dot: take it to God first, ask him to show you your own heart, and trust him to do what only he can do in someone else’s (25:57)Are you interested in having Dot come and speak to your community? Email us at [email protected] Write this Down! on YouTubeFind Dot Bowen on Instagram and Facebook This Episode’s Scripture VerseMatthew 7:1-5 (ESV) — “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. 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 the 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.”