"Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye,
and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."
Matthew 7:5
I read an article this week that said there were free courses available at several locations to help people learn how to handle their personal finances. It would teach such principles as how to live on a budget and how to stay out of debt. Here is the great piece of this article: the classes are being offered by the U.S. federal government! Does any one find it strange that the one entity that cannot operate on a budget and is in trillions of dollars of debt is offering courses on personal finance? It might be best if every federal government official sat through Dave Ramsey's thirteen week course of Financial Peace University. (If you know any thing about Dave, he would love to get a crack at these guys for thirteen weeks.)
While the class mentioned above may seem appalling, the truth is that many of us live our lives the same way. There are many of us that feel it is our life's duty and responsibility to fix every one else. So, we spend most of our day judging what is wrong with people. We have become experts at it. We can pick up on any flaw, even the most minor of defects. Nothing escapes the eagle like eyes of our critical spirit. If only the world would listen to us, it would be such a better place. With this attitude and mentality, we have become exactly what Jesus called us, hypocrites! The word hypocrite is derived from the word that means an actor on a stage. He is not really that character, but he is simply playing a part. A judgmental hypocrite is self-righteous. He has a great opinion of himself and a fairly low opinion of almost every one else. However, his ego is so inflated that he can't recognize his own problems. Every one else, especially God, knows what his greatest issues are, but he cannot see them. Maybe it would be good for all of us to decide that we are going to take a week and ask God to search our hearts and lives to reveal to us what needs to be fixed in our lives. During that same time, we are going to refuse to be critical and judgmental. It is with this heart that we must ask God to remove the plank from our eye.
May you see clearly today!
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