“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.”
-Matthew 7:1-5(NKJV)
Wow, isn’t that one of the biggest things about the church that really rubs you the wrong way…all the hypocrites? I remember when I was still in college; the hypocrisy that I saw in the church was one of the instruments the enemy used to drive a wedge between myself and God. I couldn’t see how those who proclaimed to know Christ could say and do the things they did; I would hear such horrible judgments come from the mouths of Christians that it turned me away from the church. While my relationship with the Lord has since changed, I still hear those same thoughts that were once mine coming from the mouths of the lost today. The hypocrisy in the church seems to be an easy mark for the enemy to use to deceive the vulnerable and lead them astray.
This past weekend, the Lord revealed to me how I too am a hypocrite. My mother and I have always had a loving yet volatile relationship; while we love each other very much it is difficult to spend any length of time together without getting into some sort of argument. The Lord has really been working in me to honor my mother and I can honestly say that our relationship has definitely improved as a whole. However, these past few weeks I have been really struggling; everything she does seems to get under my skin and I have had little to no patience for her at all. So I sought counsel from friends and the general consensus was, “She has issues, you just need to limit your contact with her.” Not knowing what else to do, I tried to limit my exposure to my mother as a whole, however, even that did not work as I found even the smallest interaction with her was likely to ignite this anger and frustration inside of me and trigger a response that was anything but honoring to her. Then the Lord held up the mirror for me and revealed to me the plank that was in my eye. I had been so focused on the speck that was in my mother’s eye that I had failed to see or even be aware of the plank in my own. It was impossible to honor my mother because I was focused on her imperfections, her faults and failings all the while failing to notice my own sin. I am so grateful the Lord held up that mirror for me; now I can focus on getting that plank out of my own eye so that I might see clearly. In fact my vision is already improving…I now know that I must replace my judgment with love. What is going to allow me to honor my mother in all circumstances is LOVE!
We all have a tendency to make judgments about others, but how different would the church look if we as the body of Christ made a conscious effort to replace our judgments with love? How would relationships be changed? I challenge you today to take a look in the mirror and see the plank that is in your eye; to stop judging others and instead to simply love them.
This past weekend, the Lord revealed to me how I too am a hypocrite. My mother and I have always had a loving yet volatile relationship; while we love each other very much it is difficult to spend any length of time together without getting into some sort of argument. The Lord has really been working in me to honor my mother and I can honestly say that our relationship has definitely improved as a whole. However, these past few weeks I have been really struggling; everything she does seems to get under my skin and I have had little to no patience for her at all. So I sought counsel from friends and the general consensus was, “She has issues, you just need to limit your contact with her.” Not knowing what else to do, I tried to limit my exposure to my mother as a whole, however, even that did not work as I found even the smallest interaction with her was likely to ignite this anger and frustration inside of me and trigger a response that was anything but honoring to her. Then the Lord held up the mirror for me and revealed to me the plank that was in my eye. I had been so focused on the speck that was in my mother’s eye that I had failed to see or even be aware of the plank in my own. It was impossible to honor my mother because I was focused on her imperfections, her faults and failings all the while failing to notice my own sin. I am so grateful the Lord held up that mirror for me; now I can focus on getting that plank out of my own eye so that I might see clearly. In fact my vision is already improving…I now know that I must replace my judgment with love. What is going to allow me to honor my mother in all circumstances is LOVE!
We all have a tendency to make judgments about others, but how different would the church look if we as the body of Christ made a conscious effort to replace our judgments with love? How would relationships be changed? I challenge you today to take a look in the mirror and see the plank that is in your eye; to stop judging others and instead to simply love them.
COACH'S CALL TO ACTION
- If you were to look into the mirror, what is the plank in your own eye that would be revealed?
- What are you going to do about that plank in your eye?
- What does it look like to set your judgments aside and replace them with love?
Copyright © 2009 Radiant Sun Life Coaching. All rights reserved.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment