³⁷ “Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn others, or it will all come back against you. Forgive others, and you will be forgiven. ³⁸ Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.”

³⁹ Then Jesus gave the following illustration: “Can one blind person lead another? Won’t they both fall into a ditch? ⁴⁰ Students are not greater than their teacher. But the student who is fully trained will become like the teacher.

⁴¹ “And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? ⁴² How can you think of saying, ‘Friend, let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.

Luke 6:37-42

Dear God, I’ve heard all these verses about not judging before, but what’s catching my eye today are verses 39 and 40. I’m blind. I’m foolish. I know so little. Can I really claim to have the ability or authority to lead others? And I love the idea that, although I am your student and certainly not greater than you, if I am fully trained I can become like you.

So how do I let you train me? I think it happens in times like this. Times when I honestly try to look at myself and pray that you will reveal my faults to me. When I read the Bible and look for myself in the bad examples and not just the good ones. Then it comes when I engage in relationship with like-minded people in whose faith and relationship with you I trust. My wife comes to mind. I have a few friends that come to mind. I need them to challenge me. To change me. And this has certainly happened over the years. Then there’s the media I consume. I must confess I’ve spent too much time violating my abstinence from social media and looking at some comments that last 24 hours. I’m sorry for that. It has not helped me to grow. Even Christians are fearing. If I get afraid, let it be on behalf of others and not myself.

Father, help me to take one more step through the narrow gate and on the narrow path today. Help me to simply be in your presence at all times, share your love at all times, and then be a source of comfort and clarity to others around me as i figure it out too. Let me be someone who is taught by you so I can become more like you and then help me to take that and teach what I learn to others so they can be more like you as well.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen