Self -Righteous vs. Jesus’ Righteousness

We’ve all been there; we look at someone else’s life and stand in awe at how bad they are messing it up. We say things like if that was me . . .Right, if it was, what would you do? Wouldn’t the same life experiences have shaped you similarly or is it your superior brain housing group that would make sure you didn’t “screw it up?” Are you sure your way would be better? Romans 3:9-10 says it all:
“What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin. As it is written: There is none righteous; no not one.” Right, so that means no, I wouldn’t do it better. That means I am supposed to pray for people not second guess them, not judge their decisions. That is very hard for humanity to do, we for some reason not only like to blame others for our problems, we also want to change others.
So what are we to do about ourselves? Why is it so easy to find fault in others but not ourselves. Well, like our Superhero will save us from Hell, He will also save us from the loveless, lonely existence on earth that self-righteousness brings.
First, Jesus will save us from our inability to see our own wickedness. You ask, how is that? I live in this body, I know what I think and feel! I hate to be cliché but since it would be yourself looking at yourself it would be the equivalent of the blind leading the blind. Proverbs 21:2 says:
“Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, But the Lord weighs in the hearts.” This verse tells me two things. First, it confirms what I had been saying but it points out that all I can see about people are their actions. I do not know their hearts, their intentions or their strivings! I only see the cover of the book and we would never judge a book by its cover.(sorry for another cliché) So now what? We want to admit we have sin, this is the first step to turning around(the meaning of the word repent). However if we do 1 John 1:8,
“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” we can go no further. Once we have that sorted we must as the Lord to reveal our hearts to us, like David, the Psalmist did in Psalm 139:23-24,”
“Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me. And lead me in the way everlasting.” God will be faithful to your prayer and gently reveal to you areas He intends to shape like Jesus. At this point I must emphasize that the focus needs to be on God, not our short comings and not others‘. If you go to Him and lay your prayer at the feet of Jesus - He will take care of he rest. Just like a doctor cannot cure a disease by focusing on symptoms, sin is simply a symptom of something darker that only God can heal so we keep on our knees and keep praying Psalm 139:23-24.
Secondly, we don’t think about how the Lord should shape and change others. Our walk with the Lord should be our greatest concern. Others’ issues are smoke and mirrors that keep us from running to the Lord for OUR healing! Jesus was emphatic about this in Matthew 7:5,
“Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck out from your brother’s eye.” This means even towards people in the church. Many times people look at actions of people to determine the reality of Christ. This is a bad move because all are bad carbon copies. We are all at different places in our walk and must focus on loving one another. Romans 14:12 says,
“So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.” That means other people’s beliefs and actions will not matter - what did we decide for ourselves? Did we accept Him and chase hard after Him? I think of parents with children, my own Mom in fact. I remember once getting in trouble for something I did at a friend’s house. I remember saying,
“Mom, every one was watching Alien!” She put her head into her hands and looked up into my face and said,
“Darling, I don’t care what they all were doing, I care about what you were doing.” What an amazing picture of Jesus! I don’t want to be standing before Him and say,
“I thought it was good enough to be just that bit more committed to You than my neighbor because they said they were a Christian and they did this and that . . “ Jesus would look into my face, eyes filled with love and the mist of imminent tears,
“But Dani, I’m concerned about you, their walk and life is not your own. I was the standard not your neighbor.”
So now I’m asking the Lord to show me my heart, I’ve stopped comparing myself to others and stopped judging others. Although I am sure I will have to pray for continual help in this as I am human and judging is what humans do.
So now what? Help our brothers and sisters in Christ! We are to love each other with the love Christ pours into us. That means unconditional, that means agape! 1 John 3:16 says it best,
“By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” So we are to love them so much we would die for them, we cannot do that without the power of the Holy Spirit. How would it look in reality? How would our actions show that love?
Romans 15:1
“We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves.”
Colossians 3:13
“bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another, even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.”
1 Corinthians 13:7
“(Love) bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” (Parentheses mine as it starts in the middle of Paul’s description of Love.)
We cannot do this without the Holy Spirit in us and giving us the ability. So that is why we remain on our knees in humility.