I was in a conversation where I referenced God by saying that I got on my knees. Innocently, I thought I was conveying the fact that I believe all good things to come from God and that I reverence Him by getting on my knees, but God, as He often does, made it abundantly clear to me that I should never hint about who He is. He didn’t say it audibly but He did say it. That never-ending replay of the conversation became the center of my attention until the “ah ha” moment smashed me over the head with the truth of it. “How would anyone know your knees meant you were talking about me”?
Would you reference your spouse in conversation by saying you went to the movies with “a person” or what if you called them “my spouse”? God forbid! We don’t use generic terms to refer to people we love, yet, the relationship we have with a spouse is but a pin-prick of the relationship God wants us to have with Him.
That speck in your eye: One of my favorite scriptures, that I try to live by, is Matthew 7:3 “And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?” Every time I think I’m making great progress I’m somehow reminded of how much improvement I really needed and continue to need. I said all of that to say that my sensitivities to what people say have been heightened by my relationship with Jesus Christ. When people are referring to God’s goodness with references like, “the universe”, “the higher power”, “whatever god you serve”, the creator”, “the man upstairs’ and yes, merry xmas, I feel a need to instantly restate those terms even if it’s just in my own head.
That plank in my own eye: It’s judgmental; and hypocritical! Why? Because I am still subject to the same mistake. Although in my mind I may consider mine, a more educated mistake, does it make it any less a denial of God? Comparing my sin to others’ sin doesn’t make me any less a sinner, it makes me a hypocrite, which by the way, is a characteristic we commonly share.
“The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess. ’ And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat 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 everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Luke 18: 11-14 (NKJV)
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