Building or Tearing Down?

“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ’Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” Matthew 7:1-5 (ESV)


It’s really easy to point out the faults in others, isn’t it? There are hidden lists of faults of people in our personal lives tucked away in our hearts and minds. The minute one of them messes up we quickly add their blunder to their list of faults. These lists of past blunders can sometimes be added up and then we have several blunders we keep holding on to for years and years. The purpose of building these lists of faults is due to the unwillingness to forgive and let go. What we do is use these lists of faults (usually during a heated “discussion”) against them. The list of past offenses and or faults starts to fly out of our mouths faster than anyone can blink. That’s when words like “always,” or “never,” or “here we go,” are used.

These words, among many other negative words can quickly become harmful. We neglect to realize that these words can tear down instead of build up a person. Our need to win, or to prove that we are right at any cost can quickly cost us the closeness of the relationship we have with the other person. We tend to forget that God is paying close attention to how we are managing our “discussions.” We do however notice when our feelings get hurt. The words that are told to us, that is if the other person is willing to say anything at all back to us, are the ones that we tend to focus on more. Why is that?

Are any of us free of any faults? No. Are any of us willing to admit that having to always be right or the need to win a “discussion” is a fault in and of itself? What did Jesus mean in Matthew 7:1-5? Is it that we can’t point out anyone’s faults at all? No. We can but, we need to first look at ourselves, really look at ourselves with the same type of measurement or expectation we have for everyone else. Let’s build up our loved ones instead of tearing them down. ‘“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.’” John 13:34-35

Really?

"Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes." Matthew 6:34 (MSG Bible)

"Really?"

Okay, I don't know about you, my dear friends, but I'm in a state of shock here. Is the year really almost over!!! It's November!!! What! Really???

Our youngest the other day happily said this to me, "Mom, in about a month and a half it's Christmas! I can't wait!" The look on my face surprised him. I was shocked. I just didn't put the math together. December 25th is quickly approaching which means that the New Year is quickly approaching too! Really?

I pretty sure I'm not the only one in the world that's shocked by how fast the clock seems to be ticking. Time seems to disappear. Our way of life not just here in the States but in most of the world has changed dramatically in just the last twenty years. Everyone seems to be busy all of the time. "Down time" is quickly becoming a thing of the past. Who has time to stop and take it easy?

It seems as though every other person I speak to is so busy. They're exhausted almost all of the time. When I suggest they take it easy they look at me like my son did. Like I'm clueless. I live in this world too. I know how stressful life can get. I know that there are "twenty-million things to do" just about all of the time.

Thing is, I have had to learn how to slow it down. I'm easy going by nature so it wasn't too difficult for me to learn how to slow down but, I did have to work at it, still do. It's all in our perspective. If we look at our lives as a never-ending-to-do-list then that is exactly what it will be. But, if we look at our lives as something precious, a gift that had a start date (our birthday) but an end date was not given then that's what our lives will be, a precious gift.

We know our birthdays but we do not know when our last day on this earth will be. I'm actually thankful that I don't know. Life would seem too sad. Every day would be one day closer to the end. No, I'm happy not knowing but, I also know that I shouldn't live as if there is no tomorrow. That means that I can take today for granted and expect a tomorrow. That is also not a good way to live.

The Bible teaches us to live our lives one day at a time. Sound familiar? We know it in our heads that we need to enjoy every day that we are given. We know in our heads that we need to stop and smell the roses. But, do we know it in our hearts? Are our hearts and mind connected to the fact that every day well lived is a day lived well? Does that make sense? What I'm trying to say is it's one thing to know and its another to live it out.