Mr. Smith picked up the wrong umbrella in a hotel lobby and the umbrella’s rightful owner came over and called his attention to it.

Embarrassed, Mr. Smith offered his apologies, picked up the right one, and went on his way. He saw that it was going to be a rainy day and he had promised to buy new umbrellas for his wife and daughter, so he went across the street and bought one for each of them.

As he came out of the store and began to get into his car – holding three umbrellas now – the man whose umbrella Mr. Smith had mistakenly taken, was now coming out of the hotel and saw him. He saw the three umbrellas Mr. Smith was carrying and said wryly, “Hmm, I see you had a good day after all!”

Someone once observed that the most exercise most people get is JUMPING – jumping to conclusions, jumping to make a judgement about another person. This is what Jesus is talking about in today’s Gospel (Luke 6:39-45). “Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own?….You hypocrite! Remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter in your brother’s eye.”

We should be most careful in condemning others for no other reason than we are not perfect ourselves. When we point our finger of judgement at someone else, the other three fingers in our hand are pointing back at us. Remember the little poem that we have all heard:

There is so much good in the worst of us,
And so much bad in the best of us,
That it hardly behooves any of us
To talk about the rest of us.

Each of us is made up of certain unique experiences, ideas, prejudices and expectations. All of these make up a “filter” through which we see the world. Like a pair of faulty glasses, this “filter” allows us only limited vision. We think we can see ourselves clearly, but the further we get from ourselves, the fuzzier our vision becomes.

Like a person with vision problems, we are often blind to our own faults, but quick to notice the faults of others.

It is so easy to criticize, so easy to judge. But we don’t know the other person’s circumstances. We don’t know the burdens that they carry. But God knows. All of God’s judgements are filtered through God’s perfect love for us.

Our judgements are stained by feelings of revenge, self-righteousness, anger, contempt, and jealousy. God doesn’t have that problem. No matter what we have done in life, God continues to love us.

Judge Not in Haste

Before you judge, take time to see,
The faults you hide so silently.
For every flaw in someone else’s day,
There’s one in you that has gone astray.

A tiny speck in others’ sight,
We call out loud with all our might.
Yet beams of pride within our soul,
Remain unchecked, unscanned, unscrolled.

We do not know others’  hidden pain,
The storms they’ve walked through fear and rain.
But God, who knows the hearts of all,
Sees past our masks, both great and small.

So let us love before we speak,
For judgment makes our spirit weak.
Compassion heals, but scorn divides,
And leaves the truth of grace denied.

When mercy leads the way we tread,
Our hearts reflect the words Jesus said.
Judge not in haste – look first within,
And let God’s love be your eternal win.

By Medard Laz

I struggle the most with this in my life – judging other people, those I know and those I see in public life. Sometimes I catch myself and say, “But Laz, how about the beam in your own eye?”  Do YOU struggle with judging others? Are YOU making any progress?

GOD USES DIFFICULT PEOPLE TO SHINE A LIGHT ON WHAT’S IN YOUR HEART!

Please share today’s Message with others.

You will find 365 other wonderful poems in my book, A POEM A DAY TO PRAY 2025. https://treatsforthesoul.org/a-poem-a-day-to-pray/