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I When I moved to Tennessee several years ago, I learned a new phrase: "Bless your heart." As one girl in middle school once said to me, "Bless your heart, you fell off the 'ugly tree' and hit all the branches on the way down." Although it was often used against me, I also found that the phrase "bless your heart" was really useful to me if I wanted to say something to someone else (or about someone else) that may not be all that complimentary. This weekend in worship, we turn the corner toward the homestretch in the Sermon on the Mount as we begin exploring chapter 7, the final chapter in Jesus' most extended teaching. Right at the beginning of chapter 7, Jesus says this: "Do not judge, or you too will be judged." This sounds contrary to the principle of "bless your heart." But is it realistic to "not judge?" Isn't it necessary to sometimes judge other people? For example, for those of us who are married, didn't we at some point have to judge another person to decide whether or not they could be trusted with our lives? For those of us who have children, don't we sometimes have to judge other people to decide whether or not we should entrust our children to their care? For those of us who attend worship, don't we have to judge the preacher to decide whether what he or she says is worth the time to listen? Making judgments about people is a necessary part of life, yet Jesus says not to do it. As people who seek to live like Jesus, is there a happy medium between "bless your heart" judging and the judging necessary for life?