Don’t you just abhor those who would play the “holier-than-thou” game? I know I do.
None of us are without sin, no not one. John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, said it best when he wrote in 1 John 1:8 (NIV) If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
Jesus even spoke a parable about those who would feign sinlessness. Remember the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector? No? Read on…
Luke 18:9-14 (NIV)
The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector
9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Instead of lording it over those of us whose past sins have been made public by those who consider themselves without sin, shouldn’t everyone accept the fact that all of us have sinned at one time or another in our lives, that all of us are sinners by definition, that all of us can be forgiven, that all of us who have been forgiven can do the proverbial 180 and devote our lives and our talents to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, that all of us can and should follow the instruction given in Luke 9:23 (NIV) Then [Jesus] said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me."
Why not consider this today, and then give up the holier-than-thou persona and get busy loving one another as Jesus directed and was recorded by the disciple John is his Gospel, Chapter 13, verses 34 and 35 (NIV) 34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
Wouldn’t this be a better world if we all did “love one another?”
My prayer for all of you today -
May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine on us (Psalm 67:1 NIV) May God enter our hearts and give us peace and understanding today and every day for the rest of our lives. Amen
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