May 6, 2009
PostPosted: Wed May 06, 2009 5:28 am
Finding Faults
"The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men - robbers, evildoers, adulterers - or even like this tax collector.'"
Luke 18:11
The teacher held up a blank sheet of paper and asked, "What do you see?"
All the hands in her class went up. One reasonably bright child said, "I see a piece of paper." So far, so good. Then the teacher took a pencil and made a tiny dot in the center of the sheet of paper. Holding it up again she asked, "And what do you see now?" Without waiting to be called on, the same student, completely confident of giving the right answer, yelled out, "I see a dot!"
"Really?" Asked the teacher. Then she explained. "Imagine the blank piece of paper is a person. Now imagine this small dot is his biggest sin. When you looked at the paper with the dot on it, what did you see? You said, 'I see a dot.' That one dot overshadowed all the white still left on the paper. Is that what you do when you look at people? Do you only see their faults?"
There are times when that is exactly what we do.
"Remember that your brethren and sisters in Christ, with whom you find so much fault, are God's elect. And if He chose them, why do you reject them? They are bought with Christ's blood, and if He thought them worth so much, why do you think so little of them? Recollect, too, that with all their badness there are some good points in them in which they excel you. They do not know so much, but perhaps they act better than you. It may be that they are more faulty in pride, but perhaps they excel you in generosity. Or if perhaps one man is a little quick in temper, yet he is more zealous than you. Look at the bright side of your brother, and the black side of yourself, instead of reversing the order as many do. The drift of this lesson is this; as your heavenly Father has pity on you, have pity on one another. Jesus, the Compassionate One, covers our sins with the mantle of His love! Be as tender towards those who sin as the Master was. He remembers that we are dust; remember this of others. I will not find fault with you, my friend, if I can help it, because you will be one day without fault before the throne of God! If God will so soon remove your faults, why should I take note of them?"
~Charles Haddon Spurgeon
"The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men - robbers, evildoers, adulterers - or even like this tax collector.'"
Luke 18:11
The teacher held up a blank sheet of paper and asked, "What do you see?"
All the hands in her class went up. One reasonably bright child said, "I see a piece of paper." So far, so good. Then the teacher took a pencil and made a tiny dot in the center of the sheet of paper. Holding it up again she asked, "And what do you see now?" Without waiting to be called on, the same student, completely confident of giving the right answer, yelled out, "I see a dot!"
"Really?" Asked the teacher. Then she explained. "Imagine the blank piece of paper is a person. Now imagine this small dot is his biggest sin. When you looked at the paper with the dot on it, what did you see? You said, 'I see a dot.' That one dot overshadowed all the white still left on the paper. Is that what you do when you look at people? Do you only see their faults?"
There are times when that is exactly what we do.
"Remember that your brethren and sisters in Christ, with whom you find so much fault, are God's elect. And if He chose them, why do you reject them? They are bought with Christ's blood, and if He thought them worth so much, why do you think so little of them? Recollect, too, that with all their badness there are some good points in them in which they excel you. They do not know so much, but perhaps they act better than you. It may be that they are more faulty in pride, but perhaps they excel you in generosity. Or if perhaps one man is a little quick in temper, yet he is more zealous than you. Look at the bright side of your brother, and the black side of yourself, instead of reversing the order as many do. The drift of this lesson is this; as your heavenly Father has pity on you, have pity on one another. Jesus, the Compassionate One, covers our sins with the mantle of His love! Be as tender towards those who sin as the Master was. He remembers that we are dust; remember this of others. I will not find fault with you, my friend, if I can help it, because you will be one day without fault before the throne of God! If God will so soon remove your faults, why should I take note of them?"
~Charles Haddon Spurgeon