How often do we think, “I’m pretty good,” or, “I’m not that bad”? It’s easy to compare ourselves to others and end up proud or self-conceited. We can read the ten commandments and focus on what we haven’t done (though we may have thought it, we haven’t acted on it). We build a façade, a fake front that looks beautiful, and we begin to think that it’s the truth. Others look at us and think we have everything together, think that we are good people – possibly even better than them – and we agree. Maybe not a boastful, “I’m better than you,” agreement; but maybe it comes out as just a thought, “I’m a good person.”
You may be asking, “So what’s the issue? Isn’t positive thinking like that good?” The truth is that such thinking is not good. When we compare ourselves to others and judge ourselves better than they are, we often finish by looking down on them and treating them poorly. More than that, thinking that we are better than others is pride, and pride is sin. And if we would look in God’s Word and honestly apply it to ourselves, we would realize how very sinful we really are. God’s standard of righteousness applies to thoughts as well as actions. We are called to love others as God loved us; to forgive as Christ forgave us. If we will take the time to stop and think back over the past day, and honestly evaluate our actions and thoughts, we will find ourselves humbled by how ‘bad’ we really are.
Years ago, I was reading in Luke chapter 7 about Jesus eating dinner with Simon the Pharisee, one of the ‘religious elite’ of that time. A woman, who was known as a ‘sinner’ came in and washed Jesus’ feet with her tears and anointed them with precious perfume. Simon was upset that Jesus would let such a ‘bad’ person touch Him. Simon and Jesus had a conversation about forgiveness and love. The summation of the conversation was that those who have been forgiven much will love the one who has forgiven them more than someone who has been forgiven for a small thing. I remember thinking, “I guess I’ll be one of those people who doesn’t love God much because I don’t have a lot of things to be forgiven. I haven’t been that bad.”
Now, I look back and realize how faulty my perspective was. In the book of James, we read that those who keep all the law except on part are guilty of breaking the whole law. Jesus said that all the commandments could be summed up into two things. “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” and “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” (Matthew 22:37 – 40). If at any time we have loved something or someone more than God, or haven’t loved someone as we love ourselves, then we have broken the law. It’s simple to mentally agree with these truths, and yet not believe them.
We are like someone who looks in a mirror, sees a dirty face, and decides that it’s someone else’s face, or at least that the reflection isn’t accurate. We need to still our hearts, and come to God seeking His leading, and willing to believe His truth, even if it is uncomfortable. We need the hammer of His Word to break down the façade we have embraced as truth. We need His light to shine into our lives and reveal the darkness and sin there.
And then we have a choice. Will we believe that our selfish plans, our love for our dream (house, job, family, relationship, life, etc.), our worry, our anger, our lack of true love for others is sin? As long as we resist the truth, we cannot be forgiven of these sins. God says He will forgive us when we confess our sins, but we cannot confess that something is a sin until we believe it is sin. So we must choose to believe that what God says is sin. That is the only way for our relationship with God to be restored. And only then will we find peace and true joy.
Now, I’m not saying that we should be walking around in a self-centered, melancholy mood saying, “I’m so bad. No one can be compared to me. I’m worse than everyone else. There’s no way people or God can forgive me.” God has made a way of forgiveness through faith in Christ’s death and resurrection as our payment. And if we accept Christ’s payment for our sin, we are cleansed and made righteous, no matter what other people may think or feel. But we should never forget that all the righteousness we have and all the ‘good’ that others may see is not of ourselves but God working in us.
Dear friends, may we allow the truth in God’s Word break down our facades. May we let His truth sanctify and cleans us, making us more like Him each day. May the Holy Spirit point out to us our sins and may we confess them so that we may be forgiven. May we not be proud hearers of the word, who think we are good enough as we are; but rather may we be humble people who hear God’s word, accept it as truth, and respond accordingly. God has a plan for every one of us, to make us daily more like Him, so that others will see the good we do and glorify Him. And this only happens as we walk humbly with our God.
Hope in truth 