Weekend Worship—Window or Mirror

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. Matthew 7:5

As our society drifts farther and farther from God, it gets easier and easier to point fingers and assign blame. So much of what’s wrong with the world today has to do with not following what’s been clearly spelled out in the Bible. It seems that even the ten commandments, the foundation of God’s word, are now open to interpretation.

But along with those harsher-sounding commands is also the command that we love one another. And that love isn’t dependent on the recipient being loveable.

 Quite the contrary.

We’re called to love the unlovable and that includes . . .

     Those who hate us.

     Those who malign our character.

     Those who wish us injury.

     Those who wish our families harm.

     Those who hate God.

In the process of trying to learn how to love more like Jesus, I’ve discovered something uncomfortable about myself.

I had been using the Bible as a window.

I was viewing everyone around me through the Bible, like it was a window. I was passing judgment on every action, every event and every person I came in contact with. The Bible is clear that we’re supposed to be able, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to judge what is right and what is wrong.

But passing judgment belongs to God.

God reminded me that I’m supposed to use the Bible as a mirror—to reflect me and my actions. I need to hold it up and use it to become more Christ-like.

Yes, there is a lot wrong with this world. But I can’t fix that. I can’t even make much of an impact until I let God change me.

So today I’m starting again. I’ll be closing the window, and pulling out the mirror.