Matthew – Page 21 – Be Still…

Matthew 7:1-6 – How Do You Handle Criticism?

Jesus’ words are harsh at first — do not judge others, and you will not be judged. I’m sure we have all done it. Judge others that is. We may have thought “boy her dress is too short” or “why doesn’t he close his eyes when he prays?” or “what were they thinking?” or “why did they spend their money on that instead of giving to the church?” I could go on and on. You are probably already feeling a little guilty about something you thought about someone. We judge. We’re not supposed to.

Why not? Jesus says that we’ll be judged in the same manner. We certainly aren’t perfect. The standards we apply to others will be applied to us. God is the only one who should be judging. When we catch ourselves doing it, we should remember this passage. Jesus said, “do NOT judge!”

Matthew 6:25-34 – Are You a Worry Wart?

Read Matthew 6:25-34

If not ourselves, we all know people who consume themselves with worry. What happens when we worry? We focus on something, usually something out of our control, and we fixate on it. No other thought can penetrate. It increases our stress level and certainly blocks us from any meaningful relationship with God. That is why Jesus had to focus on this phenomenon for a bit.

Why do we worry in the first place? Are we control freaks who believe we can change things by worrying? Jesus focuses on material worries, like food and clothing, yet he also says, don’t worry about your life. What sort of things do you worry about? Your finances? Your children? Your health? You are not alone. Jesus isn’t going to just talk about the symptom here, he’s getting to the root of our worry and how we can stop it.

Matthew 6:19-24 – Show Me the Money

Read Matthew 6:19-24

Where do you find your security? Is it in your wealth? Are you driven to succeed only to have more money in the bank? Do you cut every corner imaginable just so you can make ends meet? Jesus is talking about our relationship to money, our need for money, and how we should view money. You may have seen before how this passage can be misinterpreted leading people to a wrong understanding.

Again, Jesus wants us to be relying on our Heavenly Father and focusing on building that relationship. When we distract ourselves with money, having more of it that is, we are keeping ourselves from having more of God. Again, the attitude of our heart is what God is watching.

Matthew 6:16-18 – What is Fasting?

Read Matthew 6:16-18

Simply put, fasting is going without food for a particular period of time for spiritual reasons. Have you ever fasted? I may have missed a meal or two here or there, but unless it was intentionally meant for spiritual growth it doesn’t count. Dieting doesn’t count either.

In the Bible, we hear of fasting. The Jewish people would fast on the Day of Atonement. There were other times, too, both for an individual and involving everyone. You will recall Jesus fasted while in the wilderness. However, today in our mainstream churches the spiritual practice of fasting is not front and center.

Matthew 6:5-15 – How to Pray

Read Matthew 6:5-15

Who better to learn prayer from than the Master himself. Jesus is giving us a model to follow. Did you recognize the prayer? In the tradition I grew up in, we prayed that every Sunday. The Lord’s Prayer was something we memorized as a young child. In Confirmation classes, we unpacked the meaning for a deeper understanding of what we had been saying over and over.

It’s easy to get lazy when we say something over and over. It’s almost like being on autopilot. We need to be careful to not just go through the motions but truly be present in the moment saying the words as if we were saying them for the first time. Jesus also cautioned us not to be like hypocrites, drawing attention to ourselves when we pray.