"And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:
Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."
Luke 18:9-14
One of Christ's parables today. This is a good reminder for us, because I think it is really easy for us to think that we are better than others in some ways... even when we don't feel great about ourselves. In fact, sometimes we do the comparison thing *more* often when we don't feel great about ourselves because we think that certain comparisons are going to make us feel better.
Christ makes it clear here that we need to have some humility in our lives, and not assume we are super cool and shoe-ins at the heavenly gates. :)
Today, let's try to let go of the comparisons, and the disdain and hatred that we can feel for others. If we have to compare, let's compare ourselves with God and focus on improving that relationship. As we work to become more like God and include him more in our lives, we will feel better about ourselves through his love and through feeling like we're improving... we don't have to compare ourselves to others in order to feel good, and as we can see here, it is actually going to be detrimental if we feel so much pride that we think that we are better than others... or that we don't have a long, long way to go. :)
Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."
Luke 18:9-14
One of Christ's parables today. This is a good reminder for us, because I think it is really easy for us to think that we are better than others in some ways... even when we don't feel great about ourselves. In fact, sometimes we do the comparison thing *more* often when we don't feel great about ourselves because we think that certain comparisons are going to make us feel better.
Christ makes it clear here that we need to have some humility in our lives, and not assume we are super cool and shoe-ins at the heavenly gates. :)
Today, let's try to let go of the comparisons, and the disdain and hatred that we can feel for others. If we have to compare, let's compare ourselves with God and focus on improving that relationship. As we work to become more like God and include him more in our lives, we will feel better about ourselves through his love and through feeling like we're improving... we don't have to compare ourselves to others in order to feel good, and as we can see here, it is actually going to be detrimental if we feel so much pride that we think that we are better than others... or that we don't have a long, long way to go. :)
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