Matthew 7:1-3            New English Translation

Do Not Judge

7 “Do not judge so that you will not be judged. 2 For by the standard you judge you will be judged, and the measure you use will be the measure you receive. 3 Why do you see the speck in your brother’s eye, but fail to see the beam of wood in your own?

 

An inside look, not pretty, if I just had a choice?

Would I choose poverty, my friend, or influence to the core?

Would I like to be a dreamer and also be admired?

Would fame then attract me, or would solitude do more?

 

Some think I need people, but I pretend to be “alone.”

Others may know me better, for I seem blind to self

I see the flaws in others and don’t notice them in me

That kind of life is more accessible as I know you can tell

 

If someone makes a mistake, I think quickly to “punish.”

I wish maybe that “suffering” is what I want to see

But when I go quickly in hiding after I fail and fall

I think serious of forgiveness for me, but never for all

 

A pretty sick condition far removed from “Love thy neighbor.”

I don’t know much about indifference, for it seems to be all of me

I am so used to myself that this has become a significant hindrance

To the hunger for righteousness that God supplies me free

 

Jan Wienen