"But you should say, Why persecute we him, seeing the root of the matter is found in me? 29. Be you afraid of the sword: for wrath brings the punishments of the sword, the you may know there is judgment."
As I make my way through Job, I am picking up all sorts of ideas. Today's thought comes from Job's statement to his critical friends: "Be you afraid of the sword." What he was basically telling them was, "Clean up around you own backdoor." We have all heard that statement at some time or other. Jesus stated it differently in Matthew 7:1: "Judge not, that you be not judged." It means the same thing: "Clean up around your own back door." Does this mean, then, that we can never offer constructive criticisms to erring friends? No. It means that before we start criticizing others, we should take a look at our own lives, and make sure that we have cleaned that up in our own lives. Job's friends are a perfect example. They just kept on heaping criticism on poor Job. He tried to defend himself, but they just kept on, and they were wrong about everything they said. Some of their assumptions were true, but not pertaining to Job. The point is that if we are going to be able to minister to people, and help erring friends see the error of their ways, we are going to have to make sure that we are not being hypocritical. Being a preacher, I have been keenly aware of this. Many times over the years, as I have been preaching, I have said to myself, "Who are you to talk?" In other words, we need to be keenly aware of our own faults as we attempt to minister to the world, and not approach people in a self-righteous manner. Let me put it this way, self critcism is not our "long-suit." It is much easier to see the faults of others than it is to see our own. But, be assured of this, we have faults as well. That's why as we minister to this world, we need to make sure that we have "cleaned up around our own backdoor." Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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