Judge not, and you will
not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you
will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed
down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the
measure you use it will be measured back to you.
One who is taught the word
must share all good things with the one who teaches. Do not be deceived: God is
not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows
to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to
the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of
doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as
we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who
are of the household of faith.
Luke 6:37-38 & Galatians
6:6-10
The principle of ‘sowing and reaping’ is found
throughout the Bible but it applies to much more in life than just giving
money. Jesus of Nazareth said not to judge or condemn others so that we
ourselves will not be judged or condemned.
During the Sermon on the Mount, he says it even more clearly: ‘Judge
not, that you be not judged. For with the
judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you’.
Jesus was not, of course, suggesting that people
should not judge and condemn obvious wrong doing, as if any and all criticism
is wrong. Jesus himself criticised and judged Pharisees who used religion for
their own selfish ends, but rather he was warning against a critical,
judgmental attitude.
In most of the New Testament letters, we read criticism
and condemnation of Christians whose lifestyle was clearly at odds with their
faith in God and who indulged in sexual and financial depravity. Consider, for
example, the above passage from St Paul’s letter to the church in Galatia. By sowing
to the flesh, he had in mind what he had in the previous chapter called ‘works
of the flesh’, which included ‘sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry,
sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions,
divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies and things like these’. He added (not for the
first time!), ‘I warn you, as I warned
you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of
God’. But in sowing to the spirit, he anticipated good fruit: ‘love, joy,
peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness [and]
self-control’.
Jesus also said that we should be forgiving of others
if we wish to be ourselves forgiven, to be generous so that we can experience
generosity in return. It is a principle of how the world works – one that does
apply to money and wealth, as I hope to explain tomorrow.
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Copyright © All Souls Clubhouse Community Centre & Church and Philip Evans
2013.
Scripture
quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright
© 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by
permission. All rights reserved.
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