How can the gospel help someone with a critical spirit? A desire to find fault, scold, ridicule, to use a condescending or superior tone – all these reveal a heightened sense of one’s own inadequacies – the very thing that fuels a compulsion to elevate ourselves.
Isn’t it always easier to see this in others? The uncoordinated student criticizes the school’s soccer star; the wanna–be actor picks apart an Oscar winner’s latest performance; the bankrupt business owner scoffs at up and comers. When our flaws are too glaring to ignore, we have two choices: we can try to rid ourselves of our misery by casting it onto others, or we can remember the gospel and put our self–image in its proper place.
How exactly? We must steadfastly preach truth to ourselves: “The gospel means my Heavenly Father doesn’t evaluate me as I do myself. I am clothed in the perfect robe of righteousness Jesus purchased for me at the Cross. The gospel eliminates any need to compare myself, favorably or unfavorably with anyone.”
When we trust that Jesus’ death paid our debt, and that our right standing before our Heavenly Father does not depend on our own flawed record, we won’t feel compelled to find fault in others.
Take those truths in. Let those seeds germinate. Our Heavenly Father sees every believer as if they led Jesus’ perfect life. If you let it, that truth can wash away rivalry and conceit and make room for sweet humility and a joyful desire to bless others.
“My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought! My sin, not in part but the whole, is nailed to the Cross and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, oh my soul.” –– It is Well With My Soul, Horatio Spafford, 1828–1888
Janice blogs at http://janicecappucci.com
Her book, Storm Clouds of Blessings: True Stories of Ordinary People Finding Hope and Strength in Times of Trouble is available now.