July 24 Daily Pause
July 24, 2020 | Holly Martin
READ: Matthew 7:1-6
REFLECTION: How easy it is to make other peoples sin big and mine so small! I once heard a speaker put it into this perspective. If Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson was standing next to my 5-foot tall mother in law, their size difference would be so obvious and frankly shocking. But if the person evaluating the difference was looking down at them from a mountain, they would look like the same size speck. I really think this is how our holy God sees our sin, any amount is a clear spot on the landscape that He sent his son to cover and His Spirit to deal with. He doesn’t have a measuring stick out. He doesn’t say, “well, her sin is so small, it’s not a problem, but his is so big; that just too much.” So why do we? In honesty, I think it makes it easier for us to excuse our own sin. Or we can even almost try to protect our “self-worth” by making our own mistakes and issues small. But if we let God be the judge, we can see ourselves and others through His honest lense of truth, mercy and grace that is waiting for us when we seek Him. Really, our value and our souls are safe when placed in the hands of a loving God who has already paid our debt. When we start there, we are compelled to extend this same grace to others.
PRAYER: Oh God, search my own heart. Expose those areas that bring you grief and show me how to see and love those around me. Let me be a light to others by my example and keep me from trying to be a bullhorn of “truth”. Thank you for your patience with me and this hurting world. Amen!