Be Self-Aware and Do Right
Adapted from Trusting God Day by Day
Therefore you have no excuse or defense or justification, O man, whoever you are who judges and condemns another. For in posing as judge and passing sentence on another, you condemn yourself, because you who judge are habitually practicing the very same things [that you censure and denounce].
Self-deception is one of the biggest problems we have as human beings. We easily and quickly see what is wrong with others but rarely, if ever, see what is wrong with us. We judge others, and the Lord tells us there is no justification for this.
Why would we judge someone else for the same thing we are doing? Because we look at others through a magnifying glass but see ourselves through rose-colored glasses, a tinted glass that makes everything look lovely whether it is or not. In our thinking, there is absolutely no justification for the wrong behavior of others, but for us there always is. We always seem to have some valid reason why we have behaved badly that excuses us from being responsible.
For example, someone might be short-tempered with us, and we feel it was inexcusable for him or her to treat us that way. We might have treated someone the same way on another day, but we justified it because we felt ill or had a bad day at work. In reality, we should honestly judge our own behavior rather than others because the Word tells us we will not be asked to give an account of their lives, but of our own (Romans 14:10).
When God admonishes me for my behavior in a relationship, it is particularly difficult for me if I feel the other person does the same thing that God is asking me to change. I have told God more than once, “This is not fair. What about the other person?” He always reminds me that how and when He corrects another is His business. Our responsibility is to follow God and obey Him, not to find fault with other people or how they are living their lives.
Prayer of the Day: Father, help me see my own faults before I judge others. Teach me to focus on obeying You rather than correcting people around me. In Jesus' name, amen.
