Christ warns us about judging others (Mt 7:1); we’ll be judged in the same way we judge. (2) This doesn’t mean we’re forbidden from observing and acknowledging sin in others (1Co 5:11); it evidently means we’re not to sit as judges and decide what penalty someone else deserves because of their sin: we’re to leave that to God. (Ro 12:19)
The cure for this mindset is humility: to esteem others better than ourselves. (Php 2:3) So Christ asks us, as we sit in judgment of another, looking at the spec in their eye, why we aren’t focusing on the beam in our own eye, the problem lurking within which is much worse. (Mt 7:3)
This can only be generally true for all of us if there are sinful patterns being restrained within, of which we ought to be aware, which are more diabolical than anything we can observe in others.
If we aren’t being observant, unaware of such wicked potential in our own hearts, we haven’t been striving against sin (He 12:4), perfecting holiness (2Co 7:1), content in lukewarmness.
Humility freely admits that, were it not for the grace of God, I might very well be the most evil person who has ever lived. (1Ti 1:15)
When we’re looking up at others in a moral context, seeing our neighbor on higher ground in spite of the sin they’re committing, it’s much easier to acknowledge the fact of their sin without concerning ourselves with what they deserve, knowing we’d deserve worse if God left us to ourselves.
If we can find this perspective, we’ll be pleased when God takes pleasure in being merciful to others, and truly wish them the best, rather than becoming resentful and bitter. (Jon 3:10-4:1) We’ll pity those who haven’t found the freedom to walk in the light, as He is in the light, in fellowship with Him (1Jn 1:7), and pray for them. (Mt 7:44)
How can we help others trapped in sin while we’re still enslaved ourselves? (Mt 7:4) Once we’ve discovered God’s deliverance from sin, and are experiencing more and more freedom, we can help others find the way (5), if they’re truly looking for it. (6)