Hypocrite? Not Me!
April 25th
God, thank you that I am not like other men.
Luke 18:11
Set free from the ravages of drug addiction, Jamaal had been out of prison for
two years. He had re-surrendered his life to Christ, and his rebellion was over.
He’d made a complete turnaround, his life becoming a positive influence on
those around him. But recently his wife had observed another tempter enter
her husband’s life: the spirit of judgment!
He seemed able, and willing, to spot every small offense in others. It was
as if Jamaal noticed things at the seed stage, and felt compelled to ‘set things
straight’, as he put it, ‘before they got out of control’. No one could offend God
without Jamal becoming aware of it.
For six months, Jamaal intervened for the Lord, keeping score of every
transgression, remarking to his wife about other’s shortcomings. One day
his wife felt led to call him on his righteous behavior, saying, “When did you
become the Holy Spirit, Jamaal?”
It took a few days for it to sink in, but Jamaal realized his actions were
judgmental at best … hypocritical at worst. Repentant for his hypocritical
spirit, Jamaal asked God to remove his eyes of judgment, and replace them
with eyes of love.
h
Quoting Oswald Chambers, “The average Christian is the most penetratingly
critical individual.” As Christians we can quickly qualify as Spiritual Supreme
Court Justices if our hearts aren’t constantly surrendered to the One True
Judge. It’s so easy to watch others make mistake after mistake, thinking that
we, like the Pharisee in today’s text, are above such things.
The world loves to call us hypocrites. And sadly, many times they’re right.
We don’t do as we say or should. Hypocrisy is not only saying one thing while
doing another; it can also be veiled behind self-righteous arrogance, unde-
tectable to the one being hypocritical. Chambers also said, “ … in the spiritual
domain nothing is accomplished by criticism.”
What we look for we will find. Hopefully, we are looking for Jesus in those
around us.
Prayer
“Forgive me when I get off track, Lord. I sometimes don’t
even recognize when it’s happening. Help me always
look for the good in others. In Jesus’ Name, amen.”
No comments:
Post a Comment