Don't Fall Into the Trap of Hypocrisy

"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in someone else's eye and pay no attention to the plant in your own eye?....you hypocrite Jesus said. A man with a plank of wood in his eye is totally blind, yet he is trying to take a tiny splinter of wood from someone else's eye. Sounds familiar........yes, we (including me) often critize others. Must admit that much of our criticism are blinded by ignorance. The Roman philosopher Cicero once said "They condemn what they do not understand". 

In short, whether you admit it or note, hypocrisy is the gap between what we show on the outside and what we know is true on the inside. Indeed, the things we criticize in other people are often the things we see in ourselves. By criticism, we build ourselves up (often without us knowing at the expense of others). Speaking ill of others is a way of dishonestly speaking well of ourselves. It makes us feel better to gloat over the sins & shortcomings of others - hence it is no wonder gossips and scandalous stories are much sought after by society. We tend to lap up all the sordid details to help us ignore the 'logjam in our own eyes'.  

UNLESS, w first remove the plank of judgementalism from our own eyes, we will not see clearly to remove the splinter rom the eyes of others. As John Stott puts it "We need to be as critical as we often are of others, and as generous to others as we always are to ourselves." Lets be kind to others and watch our heart for the words that come out of our mouth speaks of the heart. Anyhow, we are not perfect to begin with........God bless you all.