Daily Devotion with Pastor Tong Liu: Daily Devotion

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River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english

Matthew 7:1-6

"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces."

It is human nature to judge others. We often see the mistakes made by others, but don't see our own mistakes. A pastor once said, when you are pointing at someone with a finger, don't forget that three other fingers are pointing at yourself. We often can't see our trespasses, or the plank in our own eyes, but we easily see a speck in other people's eyes. The "plank" here doesn't refer the magnitude of the trespasses, but rather the spirit of judgment inside us, which causes us to always see other people's mistakes, but not our own. When we have such spirit of judgment, we will constantly judge others, but we won't see that we need to first strive to understand and support others. When we have the spirit of criticism inside us, the Lord calls us hypocrites because we cannot see who we are really are.

May the Lord have mercy on us; let us come before Him again and again, and let the Holy Spirit shine upon us so that we won't fall into the state of hypocrisy. May God open our eyes and let us often feel we have forsaken others. To love is to feel that we have often forsaken others. When we feel that we've forsaken others, we would not be judging them. Are you in the status of constant judgment? When you judge others, you are actually bitter inside. You need to ask the Lord to deliver you from such state, so that the freedom, joy and love of Christ can once again fill you.

Pray with Pastor Tong

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Lord, I thank you, for we can love because you first loved us. You first forgave our trespasses, and then you have mercy on us so that we may have mercy on those around us. If we have fallen in the state of judgment, may your shine upon us and show us that the spirit of criticism inside us is a spirit of hypocrisy. In the victorious name of the Lord I rebuke this spirit, and I ask that the freedom and love of Christ will be brought into our lives. I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!