you don’t have to be perfect…

one of the biggest motivations that is very common in our lives and we don’t recognize it is we often criticize in other people the weakness we hate about ourselves. we do this all the time. if you know your weaknesses and you don’t like them in you, you really don’t like them in somebody else. so if you tend to be a gossip, you notice other people who gossip, and you really don’t like it when they do that. if you tend to be prideful, you can pick out ego in a second. if you tend to be lazy, you notice other lazy people. we tend to criticize in other people the very thing we don’t like in ourselves.

that’s why JESUS says this in matthew 7.3-5 (nlt), why worry about a speck in your friend’s eyes when you have a log in your own? first get rid of the log in your own eye and then perhaps you’ll see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye. pretty good advice. HE said make sure you’re not doing the same thing. before you confront anybody in the spirit of love, make sure you’re not doing it yourself.

one man said, “about 18 months ago, i had to confront my wife about her addiction to pain killers after years of chronic illness. the amazing thing is i was addicted to the exact same medication but refused to admit it. my wife started attending celebrate recovery, and although i didn’t think i personally needed it, i went along to support her. then one night a man named steve had the courage to point out my hypocrisy. he was right, and i thanked him for having the courage to be honest with me. now i’m growing and changing, too. without steve’s guts to tell me the truth, i’d still be wallowing in my own self-pity.”

make sure you’re not guilty of the same thing. you don’t have to be perfect to point out something that needs changing in somebody else’s life. if that were true, you’d never point anything out, because nobody’s perfect. you don’t have to be perfect to speak the truth in love. you just have to make sure that you’re not guilty of that exact same sin.

but doesn’t JESUS say in luke 6.37 (niv), do not judge, and you will not be judged. yes, he does. and that is probably the most misused verse in the bible and the most misunderstood verse in the bible.

when JESUS said do not judge, HE was not saying ignore problems in a friend’s life. HE was not saying tolerate sin. HE was not saying allow evil to exist. people want to say, do not judge, and you will not be judged means just let anybody do what they want to do. no, that’s not at all what HE was saying.

when JESUS said, do not judge, HE was saying don’t hypocritically condemn in other people the very thing that you yourself are doing at that moment. that’s what HE’s talking about. HE’s saying you don’t build yourself up by tearing other people down when you’re doing the exact same thing. HE’s not saying don’t be discerning and don’t point out something that’s wrong in a person’s life, a relationship or in our society.

just a thought from the front porch…