It is really easy to look good on the outside. The Pharisees were great at “cleaning the outside of the cup” but how often do we seek to deal with the garbage that is inside the cup? I can be a good rule follower.
How often do we deal with our sinful heart issues?Click To TweetI can dress modestly, use appropriate speech, serve others with an apparent cheerful heart and no one but the Lord sees what is going on on the inside. The key there is the Lord sees. He knows my heart and the wickedness of it. How often do we deal with our sinful heart issues? Pride, jealousy, judgmentalism, envy, discontentment, anger, comparison, lust, thinking more highly of myself than others and the list goes on and on.
“Our spiritual comparisons are also incredibly biased. We have an amazing ability to compare things in a way that causes us to come out on top. And when we come out on top, it’s hard not to look down on people who don’t measure up.”
~ Larry Osborne, Accidental Pharisees
We have no right to feel morally superior to someone whose sin is out in the public eye. We need to be just as disgusted with the inward sins of our heart as we feel for sins done in public. All sin is an offense against God whether it is done in public or private.
The life we live in secret that only the Lord can see is who we really are. We need to look in the mirror of God's Word and allow it to reveal and correct the thoughts and motives of our hearts.
Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper,
but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.~ Proverbs 28:13
Recommended Resources:
Accidental Pharisees: Avoiding Pride, Exclusivity and the Other Dangers of Overzealous Faith by Larry Osborne
Our pride wants to keep us looking at everyone else’s fault but our own. Thank you for the gentle reminder to look inward.