Don’t you just love that Jesus always had a knack for zeroing in on people’s heart attitude? If they didn’t get what He was saying the first time, then He’d tell them a parable just for good measure to drive the point home. A classic example is found in Luke 6:37-38. Jesus says to His audience that if they don’t want to be judged or criticised, then don’t judge or blame others. Want to gain someone’s forgiveness? Forgive them! You get the picture. Jesus said, Freely give away every ounce of your grace, compassion, and forgiveness. Don’t meticulously measure and poorly portion it out onto others, but freely give it all away because in the exchange, you’ll gain more. And for good measure, God will press all that good favour down, shake it together, and let it brim to overflowing.

Speaking of judging, who can blame us for wanting to veg out on the sofa after a hard day’s work and watch a mind-numbing reality TV show? To be fair, I am quite selective with the plethora of shows available, as I normally have my head buried in a book. And yet, for some reason (perhaps cause I’m nosy erm, curious), house programs always seem to draw my interest.  

Grand Designs is one such program with its reimagined, architectural houses that bring the ‘wow’ factor with every episode. However, one episode the other day got me into a judgmental, criticising, unforgiving, fired-up attitude. I’ll set the scene.

A young family were building their dream house that was inspired by 1950s modern architecture. Their home would be characterised by each element of floor-to-ceiling windows, open floor plan living, and clean, symmetrical lines that would feature in every room. All sounds very nice, right? 

However, because every nook and cranny of their dream home had been meticulously and painstakingly measured out, right down to the husband measuring a loaf of bread so it would fit into the designed cupboard space in the kitchen (I kid you not), the wife’s comments caused me to pay close attention. “We were up until one o’clock the other morning discussing where our two girls were going to store their coloured pencils. They leave them lying around everywhere at the moment. I did say to my husband this house is not a showpiece or a museum, it’s our home, but I know every line and detail of the house is to fit into the 1950s clean-lined design. So, the girl’s stuff needs to be hidden away.” 

If that wasn’t enough to cause viewers to not only mutter things under their breath but roll their eyes out loud, just for good measure, the husband’s comment carried on the couple’s anxious, hard-to-please attitudes. “Yes, (he laughed) because ultimately the whole reason we are building this house is for them. It’s for our girls.” 

And there it was. 

Needless to say, a stream of comments fell out of my mouth faster than Usain Bolt running the 100m sprint. ‘Yeah, you keep telling yourselves your grand design is for the girls. And by the way, some people stay awake at night for far bigger reasons than where to store their kids’ colouring pencils. Sheesh! And while I’m on a roll, for what it’s worth, I would be happy to tell you where you can store those coloured pencils in your fancy, architectural, clean-lined dream house. And just for good measure, oh my gosh, those poor children. I have a terrible feeling this dream home is quickly going to turn into a nightmare!’

Ahem. Rants at TV shows aside, we are all guilty of judging, criticising others, which leads to unforgiveness. Jesus knew this, hence the reason He said in Luke 6:37-38, ‘If you don’t want to be judged, don’t judge. If you don’t want to be condemned, don’t condemn. If you want to be forgiven, forgive. Don’t hold back – give freely, and you’ll have plenty poured back into your lap – a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, brimming over. You’ll receive the same measure you give.’ [The Voice Translation] 

According to Biblical commentary, the phrase ‘poured back into your lap’ refers to a person’s fold in their clothing that created a pouch to carry grain in. Jesus was saying to His audience, you freely give your kindness, grace, compassion to others then God will not only pour the same blessings into your makeshift pouch, but for good measure, He will make sure it’s all pressed down, shaken together, tightly packed so much so that it will brim over. 

The promise is that blessing upon blessing will be poured into the lap of the generous heart. The one who sees the ‘log in their eye before pointing out the speck in someone else’s.’ [Luke 6:41-42]

When we scale, weigh, estimate and evaluate others through our judgmental, criticising, unforgiving attitude, we’ll find God will do the same to us. Why? Because God needs others to see and feel that we are indeed His disciples. What we say and what we do need to match. Because disciples act and think differently. How we treat others should reflect the heart and characteristics of God.

[I’m preaching to myself right now, for good measure.]

When we know how much God loves us. When we have undeservedly experienced His grace, kindness, and compassion in our own lives, it becomes much easier to extend the same grace to others. 

As A.W. Tozer says, ‘Measurement is a way created things have of accounting for themselves.’ However, God cannot be measured. He is infinitely unmeasurable! His goodness and grace have no limits! And that’s good news for us when He reminds us to ‘give freely’ Because we’ll have plenty poured back into our laps – a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, full to the brim and overflowing. 

Wendy xo 

Have you caught yourself ranting at a TV show? Did you discover something about your attitude on reflection?