Look Inside

The gospel today asks us to look first inside our hearts and remember our imperfections instead of quickly judging others.

It is easy to see the mistakes of others. It is easy to see their annoying characteristics, their bad habits, their imperfections. However, Jesus reminds us that no one is perfect, thus we should not be quick to pass judgement on others.

Does this mean we should not mind them and not care?

Not necessarily. Jesus wants us to put things in the right perspective. He did not tell us not to care about other people. He wants us to avoid passing quick judgement. “…the measure with which you measured will be measured to you” When we want to correct others, let us first remember that we too are not perfect, and that we should examine our motive. Why am I telling it to the person? Is it out of love for the person, or our of hate? Do we want to help the other person, or do we want to embarrass him?

It is easy to justify our actions. “Hindi naman ako ganyan kasama, kaya ok lang na pagsabihan ko sya.” Or “hindi naman ako ganyan ka pasaway, kaya ok lang na magalit ako sa kanya” However, Jesus tells us otherwise. There are things we do not see – because of the wooden beam in our eye. There are things we do not know. There might be a deeper reason for his action. There might be an unresolved concern inside of us that is triggering something with what we see with the other person. That’s why Jesus wants us to examine our self, our motive, and our intention before we act on what we’re feeling towards other people.

IS there someone really annoying me? Is there someone I want to talk to about a bad habit or behaviour? Did I examine myself already? Am I doing it out of love? Do I try to look past the action and into the person?

May we always be reminded to pray and look inside ourselves before we act.

Dear God,

Thank you for the weekend. Thank you for this new week. Lord, I ask that this week, I may be able to glorify you through my thoughts and actions. Help me to always examine my motives and look inside myself first before acting. May I hate the sin and not the sinner, knowing that I too am a sinner. Help me to look past the seemingly irresponsible and annoying action of others, and look deep into the person and try to see what the root of such behaviour is. Lord, I know it is not easy, but with your guidance, I can do it for your greater glory, Amen.

Have a blessed week!

In Christ,

-g-