Feel free to forward this to a friend!
Have you noticed how easy it is to look down on others? What is it about our human nature that seems to default into degrading another through criticism? How do we look into the mirror each morning and miss the flaws in ourselves which are so obvious to those who know us?
Jesus spoke directly to such attitudes and called us to account on the matter of our incongruities. Listen as he speaks strongly to each one of us …
“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.” Matthew 7:1-6 (NKJ)
We become like Jesus when …
o We jettison the ‘better than thou’ attitude and remember our own failures!
Criticism can become like a virus … it is easily caught and difficult to get rid of! Consider what Jesus is talking about here for a moment.
- We are treated the way we treat others!
- We find our problems in the lives of others!
- We minimize our gaping flaws by belittling those minor struggles in others!
- We act out a lie in front of others – that we have it all together!
As you work in the office today, take that class with other students, attend the civic function, enjoy the game or go shopping remember this:
The flaws you are quick to judge in others are, most likely, some of YOUR greatest failures. Why not take another look in the mirror and fix those first. After all, your friends already know about them and are probably praying to that end right now.
© 2008 By Dr. Matthew Lee Smith
Tom Welch tells us to “Declare your mission – and then live it!” No words could better speak to us in these turbulent times than these. It seems that while the world economy is shaken, world opinion continues to turn against the Christ-follower. Truly the environment we live in is increasingly hostile to our faith and struggling with major problems of its own.
