(7:1-2) These words can either bring you a lot of comfort or can cause a panic! What you do is done to you, what you give is given to you... how you judge others is how you are judged. Comforting or scary? Analyze your dealings with others... have you been fair and honest? Have you been kind? God is fair, everyone is paid what they are owed.
(7:3) One thing is for certain... it is an inarguable truth that nobody is perfect. If you are cruel in judgement toward one person's error, you completely ignore your own errors in life. It is hypocritical. You do not have authority or perfection and are therefore unworthy and more importantly, unequipped to fairly judge others.
(7:4-5) Instead of scoffing at somebody for something you think about them is wrong, remove that negativity from your own perception and maybe you will see that their own errors are caused by something out of their control. We are each vulnerable to the circumstances of life... we are broken and mended and confused by occurrences in our lives. Do not behave as though you understand someone's story when you've never lived it.
(7:6) I interpret this as an important clarification. You always want to be kind to others and you definitely never want to behave unjustly toward them - but never give the best of yourself to someone who will use it without regard. Tough love is a great teacher. Do not ever harm another but don't devote yourself to someone who does not appreciate it...does not even try!
(7:7-8) A lot people reject God on principle. Their minds cannot conceive of such an entity. God accepts and forgives this in 2 Thessalonians 2:11, God lets you know that if you wish or prefer or tend not to believe in Him, he will allow it and also help you obscure His presence from your mind. He understands that it is not a notion you can accept. But if a person wants to find God for pure, honest and personal reasons, they will quickly discover that He need not be found. He is already there, has been there and will always remain with you.
(7:9-11) God loves you. He loves all of His children and if you ask Him for something, He wants to give it to you. He will give you the best version of what you ask for (sometimes you do not realize that He might have a better plan than the one you hope for). If you ask Him for something that will harm you, He will foresee that and deny you of it. Trust Him to give you what is best... find meaning in your struggles, learn lessons from them.
He compares His love for you as your own love you would have for your own children. If your child was kind and sincere wouldn't you desperately want to give them whatever they asked for? You would not trick them and give them something bad and you would not ignore their request.
God says, you all have evil in your hearts (we work to be good). But God is naturally, completely good... so when he does a good deed... it is unimaginably, amazingly better than anything we could give.
(7:12) What you put in is what you get back. You are allowed the opportunity (life) to decide how you are judged by God.
(7:13) God warns that it is very easy to make bad decisions... to put your faith in false, meaningless things, so be careful. A lot of people fall victim or become slaves to their desires. Working your life to gain material or maybe even cheating your way through life to reach fame and fortune. Stop competing for material possessions.
(7:14) This particular verse is VERY involved. Initially, a lot of people are duped into not earning their spot in Heaven but a more in-depth study of the Bible will reveal that God provides a way back in.
(7:15-20) We revisit the metaphor of men/woman represented by trees and their works by fruit. There are a lot of people ready and willing to teach people about the Bible but some of them want to deceive people and others of them accidentally deceive people. Some teachers deceive their students by not accurately following the scripture they are supposed to have knowledge of. Really examine your teachers or those in spiritual or religious positions. Are they humble and wise? Do they back up everything they say with evidence from the Bible? You also have to do your own work - double check their accuracy by reaching and interpreting the Bible for yourself. Ensure that if they say something exists in the Bible it actually does! Men and women are flawed and therefore their teaching abilities can be flawed as well. Make sure you have a teacher with good intentions and one who strictly and orderly follows scripture.
(7:21) You can say all the fancy words you want to God, you can talk to Him all day long but if the words you are saying do not have meaning in your heart, they will get you nowhere. A lot of spiritual and religious people call themselves spiritual and religious but their actions suggest otherwise. God says, let your actions speak for you. Do the will of God and He will get the message.
(7:22-23) There are a lot of corrupt teachers out in the world. Some of them might have even convinced themselves that they are doing a good work but if there work is not good, God will not recognize them for the star they thought they were.
(7:15-20) We revisit the metaphor of men/woman represented by trees and their works by fruit. There are a lot of people ready and willing to teach people about the Bible but some of them want to deceive people and others of them accidentally deceive people. Some teachers deceive their students by not accurately following the scripture they are supposed to have knowledge of. Really examine your teachers or those in spiritual or religious positions. Are they humble and wise? Do they back up everything they say with evidence from the Bible? You also have to do your own work - double check their accuracy by reaching and interpreting the Bible for yourself. Ensure that if they say something exists in the Bible it actually does! Men and women are flawed and therefore their teaching abilities can be flawed as well. Make sure you have a teacher with good intentions and one who strictly and orderly follows scripture.
(7:21) You can say all the fancy words you want to God, you can talk to Him all day long but if the words you are saying do not have meaning in your heart, they will get you nowhere. A lot of spiritual and religious people call themselves spiritual and religious but their actions suggest otherwise. God says, let your actions speak for you. Do the will of God and He will get the message.
(7:22-23) There are a lot of corrupt teachers out in the world. Some of them might have even convinced themselves that they are doing a good work but if there work is not good, God will not recognize them for the star they thought they were.
(7:24-27) Another recurring metaphor: God as a rock (a strong and stable foundation). Build your life with kindness, honesty, patience and forgiveness and it will be sturdy. Let those things be your default, your base. If you do that, no amount of turbulence in life will be able to corrupt you or diminish your spirits.
If you live life with corruption and dishonesty at your base, you will spend your life cheating and scheming to keep it from toppling. Turbulence finds you often and you continue to crash into ruin.
(7:28-29) We come out of the red-letter, the places where Jesus is speaking directly for a moment to remind us that these teachings are being given to the disciples. People were awed and amazed to have such promises made to them if they live an honest life. Jesus made it clear and simple. He taught have "one authority" one truth which he remained with the entire time. His teaching was not confusing or contradictory. They had never experienced such wise and direct council before. Do not take for granted the value of having scripture accessible to you. If you are free and able to study the Bible, a book written solely for your benefit, be as in awe and appreciative of it as the first students were.
