September 17, 2016 – Words of Wisdom
Paul Coelho

“Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own.”

“Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.” Matthew 7:1-5

What gets in the way of having a good idea of our own true self, is the ego. It is the ego, and the attempt within us to legitimize our existence that always drives us outward to be critical of others. You begin to resent the lives and behaviors of others. You resent their greed, their dishonesty, what they do, what they have done in the past, what they say, and what you think they should have or have not done. Eckhart Tolle, in his book “The New Earth” writes “When you are in the grip of…ego, complaining, especially about other people, is habitual, and, of course, unconscious… Applying negative mental labels to people, either to their face or more commonly when you speak about them to others or even just think about them, is often part of this pattern.”

Jesus said, of course, that we are to avoid the “inherent behavior of highlighting the faults of others” by first seeing more clearly our own lives and behaviors. When we become more introspective, and focus more on our own behaviors and need areas, we will soon be able to see more clearly the lives around us and realize that the faults we see in others may not really be there – it may simply be a misinterpretation based on our need to be “better” than “those people”.

Take time each day involving yourself in prayer – it is through our conversation with G-d that we can find some clarity for our lives. Pray for the strength to let go of your anger toward others – and to see more clearly the good and the worth in all people. It is through prayer that we can let go of the hurt, the anger and the complaining, and remind ourselves of the blessings we have in our lives.

Pastor Dave