“In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he heard God and shunned evil.” (Job 1:1 NIV)
From the very first verse of Job I’m convicted. Job possessed some character traits that I’m could spend the rest of my life cultivating. Job had a hefty start on a good existence with God: he was blameless, upright, God-fearing, and he shunned evil. Before we gloss over this attributes, let’s remind ourselves of Webster’s definition.
blameless: free from guilt or fault.
upright: conforming to a high standard of morality or virtue.
God-fearing : having a reverent feeling toward God: devout.
shunning evil: to avoid sinful or morally reprehensible behavior deliberately and especially habitually.
Job was the real deal when it came to God-honoring. We look at him and realize we could spend all the time we have left growing a love for God like his. We tend to look outward instead of inward, don’t we? We tend to focus on the faults of others – which we have no control over – even though we still have a long ways to grow ourselves. There’s enough going wrong within our own frames to keep us busy until Jesus comes back.
Wouldn’t it work better if we focused on loving others and fixing ourselves? Our society has flipped the script: love yourself and try to fix others. In the famous words of Dr. Phil, ‘how’s that working out for you?‘ It’s not. Loving ourselves and fixing others is a recipe for disaster: with our Creator and our cohabitants. What if, instead, we partner with the Spirit and the Word of God and work until we are recreated more truly into His image? Then we might be better equipped to love our fellow man.
“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brothers eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your owner? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from my brother’s eye.” (Matthew 7:3-5 NIV)
It occurs to me that removing a speck from the eye of another without the consent and cooperation of the eye owner would be dangerous, pain-producing and near impossible. The best way to remove a speck from an eye is to find a mirror, pull back the lid and retrieve it yourself. Isn’t that the truth with sin as well?
The Word points it out – causing pain. The Holy Spirit acts as a mirror and it is our own clumsy fingers that fish it out and part ways with the obstruction itself.
“Search me, God, and know my anxious heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there i is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalm 139:23-23 NIV)
We note the psalmist says ‘search me’ not ‘search them’. The only one we can change is us. And we’re enough to keep ourselves busy for a good long while.
Lord, please forgive us for our perpetual focus on the faults of others. Instead open up our hearts and reveal the obstructions within. Search out the things that interfere with relationship: divine and mortal alike. Help us remove whatever hinders, hurts or infects. Fix us and fill us up with great love for others, a love like You’ve demonstrated toward us. Amen.