Matthew 7:1-5, "Do not
judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge
others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured
to you. 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 out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck
from your brother’s eye" (NIV).
This is exactly what I needed to read,
today. Don't misunderstand. I absolutely hate that this is exactly what I needed to read, but here it is.
Taking my
own advice is difficult. It is so much
easier to tell other people how they should change than to think about how
every single word I say might also apply to me... to my life... to my sin. To be completely honest, I am a little bit at
war with myself. I'm not exactly sure
why I think that I can handle tempting situations better than anyone else. I am feeling a little bit frustrated that I
don't like my advice to others, applied to me, because it is difficult and irritating
and if I follow it I can't do whatever I want, whenever I want, and y'all know
how I hate that.
The problem
with feeling like this is that Jesus has a word for it that I think I hate
more: hypocrite.
Ouch.
And... ouch.
And... maybe
even ouch again.
Thankfully,
God is so much better than me. (Duh, I know, but sometimes it's important to
just say it.)
Psalm 106:43-45,
"Many times he delivered them, but they were bent on rebellion and they
wasted away in their sin. Yet he took note of their distress when
he heard their cry; for their sake he remembered his
covenant and out of his great love he relented"
(NIV).
I love that God remembers covenant and
relents. I think I have often considered
the word, "relentless" to be something positive, but when I took a
look at the actual definition; I stopped liking it, immediately. I thought to be relentless was to be determined,
to never give up. As it turns out,
relentless is to be oppressive, harsh, and inflexible. Sometimes simply defining terms helps us to
understand what we really want.
I do not want a relentless God.
I do not want a relentless me.
I thought to relent meant to be weak. It does not.
I thought to relent meant to give up.
And it does. But it's vitally
important to understand that to relent means to give up everything I don't want
to be to anyone, anyway. It is to give
up oppressive control, cruelty, or punishment.
Oh goodness, I relent!
Out of love, I relent!
I am so thankful that God is patient, over
and over again, and that God hears our cries (my cries) and takes note of distress. Because here's the truth, friends. Sometimes we really screw up. And yet God's covenant stands. Deliverance comes. And we can stop wasting away.
L.