Bible Study - verse by verse - 22

Matthew 7:1, 2 Jesus tells us to examine our own motives and conduct instead of judging others. The traits that bother us in others are often the habits we dislike in ourselves. Do you find it easy to magnify other's faults while excusing your own? If you are ready to criticize someone, check to see if you deserve the same criticism. Judge yourself first, and then lovingly forgive and help your neighbors.
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Matthew 7:1-5 Jesus' statement, "Judge not," is against the kind of hypocritical, judgmental attitude that tears down in order to build oneself up. It is not a blanket statement against all critical thinking, but a call to be discerning rather than negative. Jesus said to expose false teachers, and Paul taught that we should exercise church discipline an trust God to be the final judge.
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Matthew 7:7, 8 Jesus tells us to persist in pursuing God. People often give up after a few halfhearted efforts and conclude that God cannot be found. But knowing God takes faith, focus, and follow-through, and Jesus assures us that we will be rewarded. Don't give up in your efforts to seek God. Continue to ask Him for more knowledge, patience, wisdom, love and understanding. He will give them to you.
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Matthew 7:9, 10 The child in Jesus' example asked his father for bread and fish - good and necessary items. If the child had asked for a poisonous serpent, would the wise father have granted his request. Sometimes God knows we are praying for "serpents" and does not give us what we ask for, even though we persist in our prayers. As we learn to know God better as a loving Father, we learn to ask for what is good for us, and then He grants it.
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Matthew 7:11 Christ is showing us the heart of God the Father. God is not selfish, begrudging, or stingy, and we don't have to beg or grovel as we come with our requests. He is a loving Father who understands, cares, and comforts. If humans can be kind, imagine how kind God, the Creator of kindness, can be.