Look Inside
One day a man had an accident while driving to work. He got out of the car and yelled at the other driver, “Lady! You need to learn how to drive. You’re the fourth person that’s hit me today.”
In life, we can get to a point sometimes where, like this man, we’re always pointing fingers and placing the blame on others. But there comes a time when we need to look inside and say, “Maybe I’m the one that needs to change.”
If you’re finding fault all the time and developing a habit of seeing the bad rather than the good, if you’re skeptical and have trained yourself to be cynical and sarcastic rather than believing the best, if you’re constantly blaming everyone for everything that’s going wrong in your life, then maybe it’s time to look inward instead of at others.
Just like the man who had the accident while driving to work; if he had been hit four times in one day, obviously, he’s the one doing something wrong!
One thing I’ve learned is a critical spirit will follow you everywhere you go. You can’t get away from it. You can leave one job angry, upset and bitter and go around saying, “They didn’t treat me right.” “My boss doesn’t know what he’s doing.” “Nobody can do anything right.” But if you don’t deal with the root issue, you’ll have the same problem at the next job or in your next relationship. You’ll still think everybody is against you. It’s because the problem is inward and not outward.
I love what Jesus said to people that were always placing the blame on others and looking at what others need to fix all the time instead of looking at their own lives. He said, “Get the telephone pole out of your eye before you try to get the toothpick out of your brother’s eye.” What He was saying is, “Look inside. Deal with your own issues. Spend your time trying to improve your own life, and you’ll have a whole lot less time for being critical and judgmental.”
When I come to the end of my days and stand before God, and He says, “Joel, what did you do with the time that I entrusted you with? How did you use the gifts that I gave you?”
I would hate to have to say, “God, I spent my life criticizing others, knocking people down and trying to make them look bad, placing the blame on others and stirring everything up.”
I have a hard time believing that God is going to say, “Well done, you good and faithful servant. You did just what I asked!”
No, I imagine God is going to say, “Do me a favor. Clean your own window; look inward before you come up here. If not, before long, you’ll be finding fault with Me.”
Today, you can make the switch. You can work on cleaning your own windows. You can wipe away the judgment, criticism, and fault finding, which may be the things that have held you back for years. Love believes the best in others. It always sees the good. And when there is blame or a fault to be found, instead of looking outward, first look inward.
Don’t be afraid to look inward and humble yourself before God. After all, when we’re humble, we give God the opportunity to promote and bless us.
1 Peter 5:6
“Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.” (KJV)
The Message says, “So be content with who you are, and don’t put on airs. God’s strong hand is on you; he’ll promote you at the right time. Live carefree before God; he is most careful with you.”
In life, we can get to a point sometimes where, like this man, we’re always pointing fingers and placing the blame on others. But there comes a time when we need to look inside and say, “Maybe I’m the one that needs to change.”
If you’re finding fault all the time and developing a habit of seeing the bad rather than the good, if you’re skeptical and have trained yourself to be cynical and sarcastic rather than believing the best, if you’re constantly blaming everyone for everything that’s going wrong in your life, then maybe it’s time to look inward instead of at others.
Just like the man who had the accident while driving to work; if he had been hit four times in one day, obviously, he’s the one doing something wrong!
One thing I’ve learned is a critical spirit will follow you everywhere you go. You can’t get away from it. You can leave one job angry, upset and bitter and go around saying, “They didn’t treat me right.” “My boss doesn’t know what he’s doing.” “Nobody can do anything right.” But if you don’t deal with the root issue, you’ll have the same problem at the next job or in your next relationship. You’ll still think everybody is against you. It’s because the problem is inward and not outward.
I love what Jesus said to people that were always placing the blame on others and looking at what others need to fix all the time instead of looking at their own lives. He said, “Get the telephone pole out of your eye before you try to get the toothpick out of your brother’s eye.” What He was saying is, “Look inside. Deal with your own issues. Spend your time trying to improve your own life, and you’ll have a whole lot less time for being critical and judgmental.”
When I come to the end of my days and stand before God, and He says, “Joel, what did you do with the time that I entrusted you with? How did you use the gifts that I gave you?”
I would hate to have to say, “God, I spent my life criticizing others, knocking people down and trying to make them look bad, placing the blame on others and stirring everything up.”
I have a hard time believing that God is going to say, “Well done, you good and faithful servant. You did just what I asked!”
No, I imagine God is going to say, “Do me a favor. Clean your own window; look inward before you come up here. If not, before long, you’ll be finding fault with Me.”
Today, you can make the switch. You can work on cleaning your own windows. You can wipe away the judgment, criticism, and fault finding, which may be the things that have held you back for years. Love believes the best in others. It always sees the good. And when there is blame or a fault to be found, instead of looking outward, first look inward.
Don’t be afraid to look inward and humble yourself before God. After all, when we’re humble, we give God the opportunity to promote and bless us.
1 Peter 5:6
“Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.” (KJV)
The Message says, “So be content with who you are, and don’t put on airs. God’s strong hand is on you; he’ll promote you at the right time. Live carefree before God; he is most careful with you.”