Sunday Morning Podcast | The Moody Church

The passage from Matthew 7:1-12 is notoriously difficult to understand due to its complex thematic interconnections. What seems like a random collection of Jesus’ wisdom is actually a message about how we are to treat others.   Jesus is identifying two radically different ways of treating others, which flows through two radically different hearts: a self-righteous heart like the Pharisees, and a kingdom-heart made alive by God’s grace.   What kind of heart treats others rightly?   The Heart of Unhelpfulness: A self-righteous heart is helpless with others. Condemnation flows from a heart of self-righteousness, and self-righteousness never helps anybody. If we’re condemning, blaming, shaming, and ostracizing others, there’s something much bigger than a speck of sin in our eye; we’re blinded by the log of self-righteousness. And self-righteous people shouldn’t try to help others deal with harmful stuff in their life. The Heart of Helpfulness: Jesus describes another approach: to ask, seek, and knock on