A serviceman once wrote about a moment of comedy he had witnessed in the army. It happened during a company inspection at the Redstone Arsenal in Alabama.
The inspection was being conducted by a full colonel. Everything had gone smoothly until the officer came to a certain soldier, looked him up and down and snapped, "Button that pocket, trooper!"
The soldier, more than a little rattled, stammered, "Right now, sir?"
"Of course, right now!" was the reply.
Whereupon the soldier very carefully reached out and buttoned the flap on the colonel's shirt pocket. The officer had been quick to note the youngster's uniform problem, but hadn't noticed his own.
For some reason, we seem to be the same way. The faults of others stick out like a missing tooth, while our own are often hard to spot. Small specks in other people seem major, while the planks in our own eye seem excusable (Mat_7:1-5).
The inspection was being conducted by a full colonel. Everything had gone smoothly until the officer came to a certain soldier, looked him up and down and snapped, "Button that pocket, trooper!"
The soldier, more than a little rattled, stammered, "Right now, sir?"
"Of course, right now!" was the reply.
Whereupon the soldier very carefully reached out and buttoned the flap on the colonel's shirt pocket. The officer had been quick to note the youngster's uniform problem, but hadn't noticed his own.
For some reason, we seem to be the same way. The faults of others stick out like a missing tooth, while our own are often hard to spot. Small specks in other people seem major, while the planks in our own eye seem excusable (Mat_7:1-5).
It's obvious that man has suffered this condition for a long time, probably since the Garden. It all stems from us making judgments of others. Comparing them to our own pre-conceived ideas of perfection. The problem is that those pre-conceived ideas of perfection are founded in our own picture of ourselves and since none of us is perfect, we can't help but have an incorrect basis for making a judgment.
We look for and see the faults of other when our vision should truly be directed inward. Only God Himself knows how many churches have been torn apart and destroyed by "fault seekers" when the truth is that the only human being that ever walked this earth after Adam and Eve's fall from grace was our Lord. He is the only one who has a justifiable base to make any judgment of any of us.
Let's quit dwelling on the faults of others all the time. The church needs builders and workers-not a wrecking crew. Work on your own faults, then seek to help others in a spirit of gentleness.
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