Not too long after we moved into our log home outside of Bells, Texas, my wife decided she wanted to host a Women’s Retreat there on a Friday and Saturday. The ladies were invited to stay overnight. Our dear friends and neighbors, who have a log home right next to us, agreed to let some of the women take over their house as well for sleeping accommodations. That meant the husbands had to make themselves scarce and find somewhere else to sleep, which we did. The ladies had a good time enjoying each other’s company and studying God’s Word. I went back home on Saturday evening after they had all left.

The next morning, I was standing in the narthex of our church building welcoming people to worship. One of the ladies who attended the retreat walked up to me and gave me a hug like she always did. While she was hugging me she said, “I really enjoyed sleeping in your bed!” Several of the Elders were standing there when she said it. Everyone, including me, could not believe what we just heard. She then realized what she had said and turned bright red. Everyone had a good laugh, but you can imagine how some people who heard that remark might have jumped to conclusions that were not correct.

This is part of our fallen, sinful nature. God even gave us a commandment against bearing false witness. Luther suggested that meant we should “put the best construction on everything” or “explain things in the kindest way possible.” But we tend to do just the opposite.

This is nothing new. Scripture includes accounts of people jumping to conclusions, like they did after Paul was shipwrecked and arrived on the island of Malta.

 Acts 28:1–6 Once safely on shore, we found out that the island was called Malta. ² The islanders showed us unusual kindness. They built a fire and welcomed us all because it was raining and cold. ³ Paul gathered a pile of brushwood and, as he put it on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand. ⁴ When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, “This man must be a murderer; for though he escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.” ⁵ But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects. ⁶ The people expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead, but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.

Neither conclusion they arrived at was correct! This made me think of the people on both sides of the recent election jumping to wrong conclusions about the people who voted for the candidate they were not supporting. Many hateful and harmful words have been spoken and shared on social media. We need to be careful about our conclusions. We are not the ones called to judge our neighbors. God will take care of that.

Matthew 7:1–5 “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. “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

Whenever we encounter the Law in God’s Word, it reminds us that we are all sinful and in need of forgiveness. It reminds us of the log in our eye. That is why it is so wonderful to hear the Gospel message as well, that assures us that Jesus has paid our penalty and bought us back from sin and death. That was the message Paul was sharing, and I am sure he tried to share it with those who jumped to wrong conclusions about him.

It is a message we all need to be reminded of everyday.

(P.S. The lady in this story knows I am sharing this in my devotion. I am sure her face will be just as red today as it was on that Sunday morning. I also know – as she does – that she is a dearly loved child of God and is covered by the righteousness of Jesus Christ.)