TRUE by Melody Carlson

Author:Melody Carlson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: JNF049130, JNF049080
ISBN: 9781441201959
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2008-09-30T16:00:00+00:00

My Prayer

Dear God,

Help me look beneath the rough exteriors of others. Help me to get rid of my ignorance and to see people as you see them.

Amen.

Final Word

We must stop judging others. We must also make up our minds not to upset anyone’s faith.

Romans 14:13 CEV

47

Hypocritical “Help”

Words from the Rock

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.

Matthew 7:3–5 NIV

Once again, Jesus is warning against hypocrisy as well as judgment. Only this time he’s exposing a tendency to disguise insincere opinions as helpfulness. Obviously he has reasons for making this point. He knows that humans, being flawed, might try to invent ways to appear innocent while annihilating others.

Say you have an overweight friend who’s struggling to stay on her diet. Maybe she’s even asked for your help. So you walk into the cafeteria and catch her snarfing down some fries, so you say something “helpful” like, “Hey, if you don’t want to be a cow, why are you eating like a pig?” So maybe she gets mad and tosses the fries in the trash, then stomps out. And you hold your hands up like, “What did I do? She said she wanted my help.”

The point is, that wasn’t helpful. It was hurtful. And even if she has a problem with what she’s putting into her mouth, you might have a problem with what’s coming out of yours. And, really, which is worse? Her choice to fudge on her diet hurts only her. But your choice to say something mean is hurtful and humiliating and wrong. Your “helpfulness” will probably make your friend’s problem worse, plus you’ll end up looking like a jerk. And how does that make God look?

Stone

for the Journey

I will examine my own heart—and my own motives— before I attempt to straighten out someone else.

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