~Romans 2:1 “Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things.” ~
Yikes.
There are times when I read a passage of scripture and something jumps off the page and hits me between the eyes. Romans 2:1 is one of those passages. I have found that what it says is entirely too true. Have you ever noticed that the things that bother you most about other people are the things that YOU have a problem with? I have. One of my biggest struggles is my pride problem. I have been trying to kill it for years, but it just doesn’t want to go away. As a side note, I think this is an appropriate place to thank God for the demolition work that He has done on my pride. Pride is one of those obnoxious mental problems that sneak up on you and increase exponentially as you think you are beating it. The moment you believe yourself to be humble, you have regained your pride. This is why only God can beat pride. I’m not saying that mine is gone and that I’m now a humble person, but when I look back at the person I was four years ago, I am absolutely disgusted. I am grateful for those horrible times and embarrassing situations I experienced while God was working on my pride. If you pray earnestly for God to take away your pride, boy, will he get busy! Maybe I’m crazy, but I keep on praying that prayer and I keep on experiencing the pain. It is worth it to get closer to the person God wants me to be.
In light of this verse, then, it will probably not surprise you to read that my pet peeve in other people is arrogance. A few days ago, I ran into someone who made it a point to prove that she is better than I am. She virtually destroyed all possibility of civil conversation because she was determined to prove her superiority. I hate conflict, so I let it slide and ended the conversation on a good note as quickly as possible. However, inside, I was really, really irritated. I passed judgment on this girl for her pride. It ate at me for hours before I prayed about it and remembered that the things that bug me the most are the things that I have a problem with. Ouch. I can always tell when I really need to work on something. The more someone else’s attitude bugs me, the more I need to pay attention to my own attitudes and actions.
Let me challenge you. Next time someone’s fault get on your nerves, stop focusing on them and their problems. You can’t change them. Instead, try a little introspection. Discover why you are so irritated. Get to the root of the problem. Find out what parasite living inside you is causing you to be upset, and pray for its removal. It might hurt for a while; I’ll be honest. But in the long run, it’s going to make your life sweeter and bring you closer to becoming the person God created you to become.
