Why do you notice the splinter in your brother's eye,
but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye?
We want to help. And we do see problems in other people that cause them to stumble. The point is not that we shouldn't help them. The point is that we can't help them, can't even see clearly what is wrong, until we get our own vision corrected. This means that we will never be in a position to judge others. Judging means that we haven't encountered the same problem in ourselves yet. We still don't have sympathy. Instead of judgment, when we first remove the wooden beam from our own eye, we have only sympathy left for others. We are ready to show mercy and not judgment.
You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first;
then you will see clearly
to remove the splinter from your brother's eye.
We can't be a light to the nations while we still walk in darkness. The other nations serve false idols explicitly. Yet we end up chasing after the same idols. We find ourselves valuing what the nations value and chasing what they chase. We reject the egregious examples of it in society but we find the same sin in our own hearts.
They followed the rites of the nations
whom the LORD had cleared out of the way of the children of Israel
and the kings of Israel whom they set up.
These beams are seriously obscuring our vision. Rip and removal is not recommended. We aren't in a good position to even get a handle on our own issues. We need the mercy of God to heal us. Then, as people who have been shown mercy, we must show mercy to others. Judgment is excluded. No one is without sin to cast the first stone.
The mercy of God has the power to heal us and our nation. Is has the power to heal the broken and make the wounded whole again. It is, in fact, our only hope.
Have not you, O God, rejected us,
so that you go not forth, O God, with our armies?
Give us aid against the foe,
for worthless is the help of men.
No comments:
Post a Comment