Seeing Ourselves and Others
by Dr. Paul Chappell
“And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.”
Isaiah 6:3–5
I read about a young couple who moved into a new home. As they ate breakfast together on their first morning there, the lady who lived next door was hanging her laundry on an old fashioned clothes line to dry in the sun. “That laundry doesn’t look very clean,” the wife remarked to her husband. “Perhaps her washing machine doesn’t work very well, or she should try a different laundry soap.” Each time the neighbor hung her laundry, the lady made a comment on how dirty it looked. Then a few weeks later, something changed. “Wow her laundry looks clean this morning,” the lady said. “She must have changed something.” “Not really,” her husband replied. “I washed our windows.”
Many times we are quick to see the flaws and faults in others. Those failings may be imagined or real, but in either case they seem glaring to us. On the other hand, our own faults frequently seem to escape our attention. Isaiah was a prophet with a message from God for a people who were not living right. At first Isaiah’s focus was on the people, and if you read the first chapters of Isaiah, you will find “Woe to them” a repeated theme. But when the prophet saw God, his first concern was not for the people, but for himself. Measured against God’s perfect holiness, all of us fall short and stand in need of God’s mercy.
Isaiah 6:3–5
I read about a young couple who moved into a new home. As they ate breakfast together on their first morning there, the lady who lived next door was hanging her laundry on an old fashioned clothes line to dry in the sun. “That laundry doesn’t look very clean,” the wife remarked to her husband. “Perhaps her washing machine doesn’t work very well, or she should try a different laundry soap.” Each time the neighbor hung her laundry, the lady made a comment on how dirty it looked. Then a few weeks later, something changed. “Wow her laundry looks clean this morning,” the lady said. “She must have changed something.” “Not really,” her husband replied. “I washed our windows.”
Many times we are quick to see the flaws and faults in others. Those failings may be imagined or real, but in either case they seem glaring to us. On the other hand, our own faults frequently seem to escape our attention. Isaiah was a prophet with a message from God for a people who were not living right. At first Isaiah’s focus was on the people, and if you read the first chapters of Isaiah, you will find “Woe to them” a repeated theme. But when the prophet saw God, his first concern was not for the people, but for himself. Measured against God’s perfect holiness, all of us fall short and stand in need of God’s mercy.
Today’s Growth Principle:
Our first concern should always be our own lives rather than comparing ourselves to others.
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