Lord Jesus, thank you for coming to us and giving us, not only the option, but the opportunity and the possibility to change. Thank you for setting a standard of living for us—and making it attainable.
We praise you for the clarity of your teaching and the strength of your life with us and in us to live according to your teachings. Thank you for the gift of your Spirit to guide us into the truth you have for us—the truth about your high call for us to love and forgive.
To be truthful, we frequently fail to avail ourselves of all that you offer and provide. We forget to help others find that possibility, too. We prefer to set ourselves up as authorities and pass judgment on others, rather than encouraging and giving them room to grow.
We often fail to accept your forgiveness for ourselves and choose to live with self-condemnation. Likewise, we tend to hold others under judgment to the extent that they cannot enjoy the freedom of forgiveness either.
Like birds in a cage with the door open, we beat our wings against the walls rather than avail ourselves of the open realm of freedom beyond. Forgive us, O Lord, and help us forgive ourselves and others.
Help us remember that we are not called to judge, but to welcome and affirm, to reveal you and your teachings, to open doors for growth in the knowledge of you.
Help us remember the words of your prophet Micah, who said that what the Lord wants of us is to act justly, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with our God. (Micah 6:8)
May we do so more and more through the power of your Spirit and the wisdom of your Word as we follow Christ as Lord. Amen.
Matthew 7:1-6 (NRSV) – The Words of Jesus Christ
“Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is 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 neighbor’s eye.”
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the
National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
