Sometimes my mind wanders, often when I watch the TV news describing the terrible trouble someone has
gotten themselves into—road rage on the highway, political demonstration turned
violent, highway deaths caused by someone who lingered too long at the party
(just one cocktail more won’t hurt), or a neighbor I see entertaining an overnight guest
when I know her spouse just left on a business trip—and it’s pretty easy to go
from observing and deploring their behavior to comparing them to myself and feeling just a little self-satisfied. And then I remember, God
doesn’t grade on the curve!
And Omniscient God has access to facts I
can’t see. He looks into the heart and intentions whereas I see only the public
façade. I’m not equipped to properly and fairly judge others, nor can I look
into a mirror and see what God sees in me. It's a good thing that's not my job, but His.
Comparing my behavior with
someone else is dangerous. I don’t know that the drunken killer just fell0 on
his knees in the jail and begged for—and was granted—forgiveness. I don’t know
the one who ran a car off the road was rushing to a hospital to be with a family
member at the point of death. Only God knows whether their hearts are
hate-filled or remorseful, forgiven the instant they asked.
Some people drink and look
down on those narrow-minded folk who think it’s dangerous. Some folks feel superior and look down on the
indulgent drinker and his lifestyle, yet are faithless, unloving to their families. Does it really matter which is worse, when they both lead to failure
to meet God’s standard? Comparing two things which are both harmful, does it matter which is worse? We can always find someone around who is worse than
ourselves, in our own opinion. Funny, we seldom are comfortable comparing
ourselves to someone we suspect is closer to God than we are.
A carpenter measures his work
by an absolute measure, a standard ruler which is the same every time and gives
consistent results. By this principle, shouldn’t we therefore measure our
behavior and thoughts against the Perfect Standard He sent into the world to
show us what He expects us to follow? His Son Jesus, though eternal and
all-powerful, was our teacher and example of perfection, who became also man, unsuccessfully tempted in every way that Satan uses very well against each of us. In doing this, we can
see our true measure and daily grow more like Him.
When I catch myself comparing my failures with other people, I must quickly look at Jesus to measure my true worth.
In spite of my self-indulgent life which could never match His in this world,
He loved me to the point of paying the death penalty I earned and will hold me
close until I join Him in Heaven.
And I must always remember, Jesus thought my "little" sins were big enough to earn that death penalty.
"The human heart
is the most deceitful
of all things, and desperately wicked.
...
The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately wicked: who can know it? Jeremiah
17:9
For all have sinned and fall short of the
glory of God,
Romans 3:23
