Week 3 | Day 1 | Have Mercy on Me, a Sinner

Command:

“Do not judge, and you will not be judged… Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” Luke 6:37, 41-42 (NIV)

Read:

To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 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. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ “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.’ “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.” Luke 18:9-14 (NIV)

Reflect:

Years ago, as I began to reacquaint myself with Jesus and his teachings, I unintentionally began to formulate a set of do’s and don’ts that I thought made a “good” Christian. This checklist of acceptable behaviors played in the back of my mind, becoming the measure by which I judged others. I was much like the Pharisee who propped himself up before God while at the same time belittling and judging the tax collector. I toed the line of acceptable behavior, visibly participated in every “religious” activity offered in the church, and looked down on those who didn’t do the same. Instead of growing in grace and compassion, I felt my heart hardening towards those whom I judged to be “sinners.” I was too busy picking at the speck in the eye of another, I didn’t, or rather, I refused to see the big plank in my own eye. Is it any wonder that few of my friends and family came to faith in Jesus through me?

God’s grace has shown me a different way. Time and again, he invites me to be more like the tax collector who recognizes his failures and brokenness before God. It’s not been easy to chip away at that plank of judgmentalism from my eyes. There’s lots still to pick out.  

React:

In what ways have you behaved more like the Pharisee than the tax collector? With whom do you most identify with? How would you like Jesus to transform your heart?

Pray:

God, have mercy on me, a sinner. Amen.