Luke 18:9-14
Just last week, Pastor John preached about being dependable. Are you teachable, serving, and humble? He used this point to draw a clear line about who should get the credit; that's right! Remember it's not about you or me. It's ALL about our heavenly Father. We must constantly remind ourselves of this truth and keep watch over what motivates us. Are we doing things to make ourselves look better than others? Are we trying to make a point to others about how we are not like so and so?
Jesus talks about this in detail in today's Bible verses. We see in Luke 18:9-14 Jesus telling the parable of two men who go to the Temple to pray. One of them being a pharisee and the other a tax Collector. The Pharisee begins to pray and thanks God for not making him like the “other people” speaking about thieves, adulterers, and even a TAX COLLECTOR! Meanwhile, the Tax Collector could not even look toward Heaven as he cried out have mercy on me a sinner! What a major difference but sadly how relevant is this parable still true to this day? It's so easy for us to fall into self-righteousness and compare our issues to others. We begin to act like the pharisee and compare other people’s sins to be worse than ours. We see this in both believers and nonbelievers across the world. However, for us Americans, I think we struggle with this most. We tend to think the American way is the only way to live life. We are truly blessed to live in this country, but we need to be careful not to lose our understanding of true righteousness. The type of righteousness of the Tax Collector. Be humble enough to point the glory and credit back to God, be humble enough to admit that we are all sinners. Romans 3:23 tells us,
“That for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”
At the end of the day, we all should know how the comparison game ends, and it is never a good ending. We will always find someone who is A. Better than us in _____, and B. Worse than us in _____. However, let's not live with that mindset of the world. Rather, let’s be true to ourselves and thank our Savior for taking our place on that cross. Without Jesus Christ, we are sinners heading straight to hell. Remember True Righteousness > Self Righteousness.
Just last week, Pastor John preached about being dependable. Are you teachable, serving, and humble? He used this point to draw a clear line about who should get the credit; that's right! Remember it's not about you or me. It's ALL about our heavenly Father. We must constantly remind ourselves of this truth and keep watch over what motivates us. Are we doing things to make ourselves look better than others? Are we trying to make a point to others about how we are not like so and so?
Jesus talks about this in detail in today's Bible verses. We see in Luke 18:9-14 Jesus telling the parable of two men who go to the Temple to pray. One of them being a pharisee and the other a tax Collector. The Pharisee begins to pray and thanks God for not making him like the “other people” speaking about thieves, adulterers, and even a TAX COLLECTOR! Meanwhile, the Tax Collector could not even look toward Heaven as he cried out have mercy on me a sinner! What a major difference but sadly how relevant is this parable still true to this day? It's so easy for us to fall into self-righteousness and compare our issues to others. We begin to act like the pharisee and compare other people’s sins to be worse than ours. We see this in both believers and nonbelievers across the world. However, for us Americans, I think we struggle with this most. We tend to think the American way is the only way to live life. We are truly blessed to live in this country, but we need to be careful not to lose our understanding of true righteousness. The type of righteousness of the Tax Collector. Be humble enough to point the glory and credit back to God, be humble enough to admit that we are all sinners. Romans 3:23 tells us,
“That for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”
At the end of the day, we all should know how the comparison game ends, and it is never a good ending. We will always find someone who is A. Better than us in _____, and B. Worse than us in _____. However, let's not live with that mindset of the world. Rather, let’s be true to ourselves and thank our Savior for taking our place on that cross. Without Jesus Christ, we are sinners heading straight to hell. Remember True Righteousness > Self Righteousness.
Posted in Devotional