Bible Reading: Luke 6:42
Have you ever walked past someone who was fishing around in a cluttered locker for a misplaced book and thought, Maybe if he cleaned out his locker once in a while he’d be
able to find things? What was the condition of your locker at the time? Before we ridicule another person for their housekeeping skills, (or lack of housekeeping skills), we need to be sure that our own space is neat and orderly.
The same thing applies to our spiritual lives. In Luke 2:42, Jesus asked, “How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.’” Before we can go to another person and try to “straighten them out,” we need to be sure that we have all of our own spiritual values and habits in order. If we are skipping our daily quiet time with God, forgetting to pray regularly, sleeping in on Sunday mornings, looking past a person who needs help, or slacking off in any other areas of our spiritual life, we need to get our own spiritual “house” spiffed up. Only when our own life is in order will we be free to start pointing out the messes in the spiritual life of another person.
What does your spiritual “house” look like? Could it use some “spiffing up”?
“Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.” 2 Corinthians 7:1
Prayer: Heavenly Father, show me where my spiritual “house” needs cleaning. In Jesus’ name. Amen.