The Parables // Speck & Log

Often a parable that is twisted because it’s about judging. Judging is a topic that both believers and non-believers struggle with as you’ll often hear things like “only God can judge me” or “who am I to judge?” This parable is more about hypocrisy than we like to think about. Why are we worried about someone else’s sins, when we are still living in sin? Shouldn’t we focus on correcting our behavior so that we can be a light shining for God instead of sitting in our sins while pointing out others? It’s sort of similar to the oxygen masks on an airplane. You place your oxygen mask on so that you are capable and useful to help others.

Read: Matthew 7:1-5

Notes:

• Motives // What are the motives when we make a judgement against another?
• Discernment // As believers we must possess the ability to be discerning and be able to make a judgement of right and wrong.
• Judge // The Greek word used here is krima and it means a decision made for or against judgement, damnation, condemnation.
• The difference is that we are not capable of the ultimate judgement. Only God can do that. But we as humans still must make judgments of discernment based on the standards set by Christ for us when we become believers.
• The standard by which we hold others to will be the standard that God holds us accountable.
• We want to make sure when we’re being judgmental that it’s not just us looking for faults.
• Self-righteousness // We cannot make ourselves righteous. This is what God does for us.
• Hypocrite // Practice what you preach is the easiest way of saying this. We will show love and belief more through our actions than our words.
• Before helping others, we need to be capable of self-control, self-discipline, and submitting to the discipline of God.

Discuss with Kids :

• Talk about the differences in some right and wrong decisions. Explain that this is the type of judgement we should be capable of.
• Go through the words and explain those definitions to the kiddos. Righteousness might seem big, but it’s great to get kids familiar with words, especially those they might hear and just assume they know.
• How frustrating would it be if Mama said candy isn’t breakfast food but she ate candy in front of you for breakfast? (This is a good way to explain hypocrisy)
• What are standards of our family/home that we hold that others might not? Are these standards that change the way we love them?
  • Example…We take a bath every night, some skip and have their own routines. This doesn’t make us any better.
  • That family doesn’t eat meat. That’s just a difference in lifestyle.
  • Different church and/or school? We can make decisions about our churches and schools, but this doesn’t make anyone better/worse.