Terms

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

TERMS

Luke 6:37-38

37 "Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 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." 

NIV

Four behaviors, two which we should not do, and two we should do. We should not make decisions about people and thus pronounce them guilty. It would appear Jesus is not discussing the enactment of civil law and the ramifications of breaking it, but rather about our looking upon people who have yet to accept him as their Savior and determining them to be sinners, not like us, and condemned to hell. He could also be talking about not having a judgmental attitude toward any person, which in fact would seem to make us feel better about ourselves, possibly even superior to those we judge as doing something wrong. Certainly we cannot ever think we have the ability to condemn anyone, to declare them guilty. Yet what Jesus says here is right after he tells us to love our enemies. Should we not see that all mankind is the same, we are all sinners who are saved by the grace of God. Each person has the same choice as all others and just because we made one choice, to accept Jesus, does not mean we should consider them any different, able to make their own choice. As to the other two commands of Jesus, to forgive and give, these we are definitely supposed to do. Somehow it appears, the forgiveness should be aimed toward others, and the giving aimed toward God. How can a person return in good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over as it is poured into our laps? Yet cannot God reward us with all this for our giving to one another? In his Sovereignty, he has the complete right to render to us an abundance for our generosity to those who have a need. This might be in contrast to those who store up everything for their own abundance. Forgiveness is one of the most difficult behaviors. It is very easy to remember all the offenses a person has committed against us. Our long term memory records and recounts these each time a person does something we deem to be an offense. Surely God declared not only would he blot out our sins but that he would not remember them, he would not mark them down, or ever mention them again. Jesus tells us we should do the same, which is if we want him to forgive us, which of course we do. Who in their right mind would want God to not forgive them? So then we are to forgive all offenses, which means we need to somehow either remove those offenses from our memory, or make a clear choice to never think, or mention them to a person again and live, loving them as if they have never offended us. This may be the true sense of giving. No Judging, no condemning, forgiving and giving, all social interactions of a true believer. In doing so we certainly receive no judgment and condemnation from God, and we receive forgiveness and giving from God. Can we be agreeable and obedient to those terms?