Hypocrite

I was not prepared for the sharp turn my devotion took this morning. I wanted to feel warm fuzzies, what I got was Luke 6. Not the Jesus healing on the Sabbath or the calling of the disciples sections, or even the Beattitudes portion – no, I got the hard part – the love your enemies, don’t judge others, a tree is known by its fruit part.

Luke 6:27-45 (NIV)

Love your enemies

Do good to those who hate you

Bless those who curse you

Pray for those who mistreat you

If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other one, too

If someone takes your coat, give them your shirt, too

Give to everyone who asks you

Do to others what you want done to you

Lend to your enemies without expecting to get anything back

Don’t judge and you won’t be judged

Don’t condemn and you won’t be condemned

Forgive and you will be forgiven

Give and it will be given to you

Take the plank out of your own eye before you say anything about the sawdust in someone else’s

No good tree bears bad fruit

Each tree is recognized by its own fruit

A good man brings good things out of the good stored in his heart

An evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored in his heart

The mouth speaks what the heart is full of

The emphasis of these scriptures isn’t others – it’s me – how I treat other people, how I want to be treated. Icannot expect from others what I am not willing to give myself. None of these actions is for the benefit of the one who hurt me – they are for me.

If I am busy focusing on getting my own life in order, I won’t be worried about what someone else is or isn’t doing. If I am praying for those who have hurt me, I am changing, becoming softened, recognizing my own depravity. When I realize how much I have to work on, I understand that I have no right to judge others.

We all need God’s grace.

We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. – Isaiah 53:6 (NIV)