Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. - Luke 6:37-38
I like it when I read these two verses in their correct context, much different from what prosperity teachers say, when they separate the last verse from the first one, as if we should invest our money in God and He would give us many more in return.
These verses do not speak about investing money; on the contrary, they talk about mercy and forgiveness. We are first told not to judge, not to condemn, and then given the order to forgive, to give to others with a generous heart.
What comes next is about the measure that is gonna be used to us when the Lord pours unto us his mercy, his blessing and his forgiveness, which is the same measure we used before when we have been merciful to others, blessed others and forgiven others.
The 'investment' here is clearly about lives, about doing good, and we are reminded to use the same kind of measure God has used for us, a ruler the size of a mile instead of a few inches, a measure that waits, that is patient, that is good, that forgives, that loves, that shows respect, that understand the limitations that other people have as we can connect to them in their misery, since we are also sinners.
The moment we judge we put ourselves in a position of superiority which we don't belong to, the moment we condemn we say that we are perfect, that we don't sin, which is a lie. The time, on the other hand, that we forgive, we acknowledge our own faults, the moment we give we say to them that whatever few we have must be enough for us to share.
My prayer today is that God shows us everyday his long, everlasting mercy, that He fills us with an immeasurable, overflowing grace that runs down from our lives into the lives of other people. That way, through love and obedience, others will recognize Him in our lives, people will have no way but to surrender themselves to such a loving God. God bless.
I like that you mention how 'prosperity teachers' take this verse out of context. As a matter of fact, many of them often do! Thank you for this understanding, instructional post..
ReplyDelete"These verses do not speak about investing money; on the contrary, they talk about mercy and forgiveness. We are first told not to judge, not to condemn, and then given the order to forgive, to give to others with a generous heart."
ReplyDeleteYou are correct in that false teachers use this to extract money. However, your assumption that it is teaching you not to judge or condemn is premature.
Why? Because if you begin to examine more closely the other Scriptures related to judging and condemning, you will find their is righteous judgement which is meant to be practiced (if you believe in the entirety of the Bible, the Word of God who is Jesus Himself). You can find an in-depth study here
http://atruechurch.info/judging.html
which will challenge anyone who claims to be a Christian. Forgiveness, is certainly necessary, as the Word says.
We all need it