February 13, 2018

Focus On Fixing Yourselves

“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 our of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” – Matthew 7:3-5

It was comical really. As we waited for a couple to cross the parking lot, he criticized the man for allowing the woman to carry a large, bulky box. “He should be ashamed,” he said with a shake of his head.

I looked to see if he was joking. He wasn’t. I laughed. “I can’t believe you just said that,” I told him.

He started to protest but it was my turn to shake my head. “If that were you and I, the situation would be exactly the same. Your back wouldn’t allow you to carry the box so it would be me toting it and you walking empty-handed beside me.”

“You’re right,” he admitted.

“We don’t know their situation. Maybe he is just lazy. Maybe she is determined to do it herself. Or maybe there’s something we can’t see at play here.”

We are just so quick to judge, aren’t we? We assume we know all the facts without really trying to learn anything about the situation. Not that it’s any of our business anyway. But that’s a different topic for another day.

It really is easy to tell other people how to live their life. It’s quite fun, actually, to focus on the “flaws” of those around us. It’s much easier to do that than to look at the person in the mirror and fix our own flaws first.

Please don’t excuse it with “At least my sins aren’t like that,” or “Well, you don’t know what he did.” It doesn’t matter. Sin isn’t about comparison. It’s not about whose sin is “greater”. We all sin and all sin condemns us to death. Except for the grace of Jesus.

I am so thankful that Jesus doesn’t look down and sort us according to our sins. I’m so grateful for His mercy and kindness. I’m filled with gratitude for the many chances He gives me each day to get it right this time.

We marvel at His grace in our own lives even as we condemn the lives of others. We fail to extend the same grace to others and we call ourselves justified in our actions.

Does it make us feel better about our own sin? We make our excuses. We defend our flaws and mistakes. We point bitter fingers at others even as we pray in Jesus’ name. We stamp ourselves with the label “hypocrite” even as we cry out to God for forgiveness.

Sometimes I wonder what would happen if we extended the same grace to others that Jesus has extended to us. Would we all be less angry, less hateful? Would we learn to get along better, seeing others as God’s children rather than as the enemy?

Perhaps we all need to take stock of the person in the mirror. Maybe we need to look for the good in others rather than focusing on the “flaws” we see. We are all in this together, doing life as best we can and failing Jesus every single day.