Sanctimonious

"Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye'; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." Matt 7:1-5 (NKJV)

When is the last time you read somebody writing about the problem of being sanctimonious? Not a common topic of discussion, but a common enough of a problem among religious types. What does it mean? Sanctimonious defined: "Making a show of being morally superior than others." This is a subtle shade of pride that enables a sanctimonious person to pass judgment on others without adequately considering or evaluating themselves.

Jesus told us to be very careful and circumspect when passing judgment; because, God will judge us by the exact measure that we use when judging others. God is able to see through the "sanctimonious" fog and judge us fairly. We can, in most cases avoid God's judgment by judging ourselves before He deals with us. It has been said, "We judge others by their actions and we judge ourselves by our intentions." How true! Before we leap into the judgment business we need to honestly and with a large dose of humility, evaluate ourselves--grab a hold of the plank in our own eye and pull hard!

Wow! Sanctimonious is an ugly word and an even uglier attitude. I am so grateful that God doesn't suffer from this problem--because, if anyone should be proud of the accomplishments of their hand--it should be the creator of the universe. Instead, we know Jesus as Emmanuel (God with us). Jesus humbled Himself and came to earth to save "whosoever believes in Him"...including the sanctimonious.

Prayer: "Dear Heavenly Father, I am ever grateful for Your love and for Your only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, who came to earth to rescue people like me. I truly have nothing to boast in that You did not give me or make possible for me to achieve. I am a beloved part of Your handiwork and if there is any glory in what I have accomplished, You deserve the glory. Please help me to be aware of my foolish pride and wrong attitudes that I might humble myself before you." Amen