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by Jim Hughes
Matt. 7:3-5 “And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye when you can’t see past the log in your own?’ Hypocrite! First get rid of the log from your own eye, then perhaps you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.”
We don’t think much about our own issues when we criticize or judge others. It’s not too hard to convince ourselves that we don’t have any issues, or if we do, that they don’t really matter. We are easily led into the trap of seeing ourselves in a positive light and others in a negative one.
Jesus instructs us to look inward before we look outward. An honest look at ourselves through the lens of God’s Word quickly reminds us of just how far short we fall from God’s standards. None of us can honestly say we don’t have issues, that there is no sin in us.
Jesus instructs us to take our issues to God before we attempt to address the issues others have. Only the pure in heart have the right to confront others with sin. Think about this a moment. I wonder how many professing Christians actually live this out. It is easy to pull out our Bibles and point out the sins of others. It’s another thing to pull out our Bibles and let God point out our own sins. I wonder how we would act differently when confronting others if we were to spend time before the Lord in repentance first. I suspect we would be a lot more compassionate and gracious.
Jesus reminds us that it’s hypocrisy for us to intervene in someone’s life without first dealing with our sins before God. Don’t let Satan deceive you in this. All of us are sinners and need to let Christ purify our hearts before we stand in judgment over others.
About the Author:
Spending his formative years in Ft. Wayne, IN, Jim followed the love of his life to southeast Iowa where they married and have spent the majority of their lives. Jim has pastored several churches throughout his life and has worked many years in local factories to help support his family. The father of two married adult children and one son still at home, Jim is a first-time author.
C Through Marriage came into being through many years of pastoral and life experiences. The book first took on a life of its own over 20 years ago when I sought to address the much publicized moral failures of prominent leaders in the church. In the chapter on Chasity, I include the guideliness that I developed then to protect one’s self from such failures.
I am a firm believer in order to make sense out of life you have to use much common sense. We need to get back to the basics of what has worked for many, many generations. If is isn’t broke, why try to fix it? I strive to return to the basics of what really works in all my writings.
Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening Devotionals Podcast – Listen live at 6am Pacific and 6pm Pacific. Visit http://anchor.fm/russell-sherrard any other time to listen to all of our episodes. Now Available on EDIFI.APP Download from GooglePlay and AppleStore and start listening.
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