Flaws

Flaws

Our own imperfections unfit us for judging fairly

(J.R. Miller)

"Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law." James 4:11

"And why do you look at the mote in your brother's eye, but do not consider the beam in your own eye?" Matthew 7:3

Our own imperfections unfit us for judging fairly. With beams in our own eyes--we cannot see clearly to pick motes out of our brother's eye.

One of the qualities which make us incapable of impartial judgment of others, is envy. There are few of us who can see our neighbor's life, work, and disposition--without some warping and distortion of the picture. Envy has a strange effect on our moral vision. It shows the beautiful things in others, with the beauty dimmed. It shows the blemishes and faults in them, exaggerated.

Then, the lack of personal experience in struggle and pain, makes many people incapable of sympathy with sorely afflicted ones. Those who have never known a care, nor felt the pinching of poverty--cannot understand the experiences of the poor.

Thus in very many ways, we are unfitted to be judges of others.

"Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls." Romans 14:4

"You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother?" Romans 14:10

Addition Dr. Morris:

            Traveling the world, in places known for jewelry, precious stones, AND, as all my friends know, always looking for a bargain-good buy, I would buy stones which could be later be put into a setting. I would have a sighted person look at the stone with a jewelers loop to make sure that the stone had a flaw-occlusion. It is unusual to find a perfect stone, when there is a flaw, you know that you have a real one.  It is difficult, many times, to tell the real from the synthetic. Synthetic stones do not have flaws-imperfections. It has never ceased to amaze me that God required a perfect animal (without blemish) (Exodus 12:5, Leviticus 3:6) as a sacrifice-offering to him. Just think of it, herds in a wilderness-desert with all the "infirmities" that could happen. Yet, the priest, if they saw a blemish outwardly or inwardly would decline the sacrifice and the person making the sacrifice must return to his flock for the second best.  We are told that the sacrifice was cut up, by the priest, in small pieces in order not to miss a blemish, burnt offering, sweet savor offered to God (2 Corinthians 2:15, Exodus 29:18).  Someone might think that smoke might get in God's eyes, that he could not see the blemish. 

            In a world of flawed-sinful-decadent people, and it is easy to think of the real-well known characters of evil and deceit (Herrod, Hitler, Stalin, etc.), we often think of those who have wronged us, even neighbors or family members BUT, they too, made in the image of God, lost, unsaved, needing a savior, probably very sweet babies- in the innocence of childhood, loved by mother. Only by the grace of God, the righteousness of Jesus and his spirit reborn in us, we become "his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10).  If God had the power to forgive my rotten sins, clean me up, he can do the same for others. He is in charge, it is his business.

There is so much good in the worst of us,

And so much bad in the best of us,

That it hardly behooves any of us

To talk about the rest of us.

-Edward Wallis Hoch