Devo for 07/07/2025 Service - Message by Pastor Clint Sprague
Continuing in our “Hike Through the Sermon on the Mount”, Pastor Clint spoke from Matthew 7 on Jesus’ charge to us about judging others.
“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. Matthew 7:1-2
Pastor Clint highlighted that we will be judged with the same measure we use to judge others, and that we are called to judge people by the fruit of their actions and words, not them as a person. When Jesus and Stephen cried out to God, asking Him to forgive those trying to kill them (Acts 7:60, Luke 23:24), they did not ask God to forgive them for being evil people; they asked God to forgive them for what they were doing. Jesus lived out what he asks us to do earlier in the Sermon on the Mount:
“But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who hurt you” Matthew 5:44
God did not create evil people; he created people in His image who have chosen to use the free will He gave them to do evil things. And this is a fact: Evil is NOT abolished by laws, it is abolished by changed hearts. Hearts get changed by hearing and believing in the truth, that God is who He says he is! As Christians, we are ambassadors for the Kingdom of God. It’s not our job to hate the person who chooses evil; it is our job to pray for and love the person God created. It is our job to spread the Good News!
The people who stoned Stephen and crucified Jesus did so out of hatred for who they thought Stephen and Jesus were. Hate is the driving force to dehumanize a person, which, in the mind of the hater, makes it ok to act on that hate.
If we judge people by who we think they are or because they believe something different from us, hate and bitterness will creep in. This can lead to a point where we are “conforming to the world” and responding out of anger and hate—just the opposite of what Jesus wants us to do.
I am going here as I reflect on history (World Trade Center and Benghazi Attacks) and current events of this week. These events were driven by hate and the desire to dehumanize us as Christians and Americans.
I have noticed with recent violent events, even Christians are slinging words around that I know Jesus wouldn’t say. I fully understand the feeling of being justified in the response. I have had thoughts I am not proud of cross my mind as well! Anger has crept into my heart as I watch things unfold. But Jesus is clear that we are to love and pray for our enemies.
This quote from Pastor Clint is a powerful reminder of why we should love and pray for everyone, even those who are unlovable and difficult:
“Even enemies of the cross are potential recipients of the Grace of God”.
So, how are you responding to people that society (at least one side of society) says we shouldn’t love? Are you praying for the perpetrator of the evil deed as well as the victims? Are you judging the person, or are you avoiding the “noise” of the world that is telling us we should be judges?
As Ambassadors of the Kingdom, with citizenship in this country, we will have human reactions and emotions when these things happen. But our response should be rooted in Jesus. Pastor Clint’s suggestion to pray first will help us, and if we can do it, we should respond as Jesus would and not be pulled into the world of hate.
Don’t forget to invite God into your day!
Topic for Study
Love
1 Corinthians 15:4-7
1 John 4:7-8
John 15:13
September Memory Verse:
John 15:13
“No one has greater love than this, that someone would lay down his life for his friends”