Stay focused on yourself, before judging.

Good morning, happy Thursday, and blessings.

On the list of frustrating things, heavy traffic ranks pretty high. And drivers who don’t signal, don’t look, won’t move over, cut people off, speed, tailgate, go too slow, or drive incredibly noisy or incredibly large vehicles rank among the world’s most frustrating people.

I find it surprisingly easy to condemn drivers — other drivers, that is. I find it just as surprising how easy it is to forgive my own driving mistakes. I wish I could say this phenomenon only pertained to driving. But the truth is, I find it far easier to forgive myself for just about anything than to forgive the same mistakes in others.

In today’s Gospel Mark 4:21-25 Jesus casts the spotlight on this all too human tendency when he says, “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you — and even more.” At first glance, this might seem to be a simple matter of cause and effect: you forgive and then your act of forgiveness will merit forgiveness for you. But to understand Jesus’ statement on those legalistic terms would be a mistake.

In the same way, those who trust Christ are free from the craving to measure others with the stern rod of selfishness. Because they trust Christ, they can commit their fears and anxieties to him, which frees them from the need to get even or get back at others. In other words, they know they are measured by Christ’s rod of grace, which takes the starch out of their natural tendency to condemn others.

Whether it’s in traffic, at the courthouse, in the church, or around the dinner table, we’re no longer slaves to our raw impulses—we are free to forgive others as God, for Christ’s sake, forgave us, and as Christ lives in us, we do.

What Jesus says in verse 25 is a condemnation only to those who don’t trust him—their selfish measuring rod is the only standard they know and the only one they understand. But for those who trust the Redeemer, there is only one measure — the ever-unfolding heights and depths of the love of Christ.

As leaders we have a responsibility to gather the facts and spend time to understand others before making judgments about the character and choices they make. Becoming a good judge of others is an important part of leadership, but it must be done wisely and patiently. The kind of judging forbidden by Jesus is that which is self-righteous, hypocritical judging which is false and calls down God’s judgment on itself.

I invite you to reflect on this today: "Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone." How? Staying self-focused helps to not point the finger.

Blessings

Fr. Luis+