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It's Not What It Looks Like

by Jerry Ousley  
4/21/2007 / Christian Living

It's Not What It Looks Like
By Jerry D. Ousley

I don't know how it is in other states but I know that our Indiana Highway Department is notorious for having what looks to be too many people on the job. If you work for the Indiana Highway Department I want you to know that I really don't mean to insult you here and maybe all isn't as it looks, but when you pass by a crew and see one man digging a hole while three are leaning on shovels telling him how deep to dig, how wide to dig and where to throw his next shovel full of dirt well it looks a little suspicious to us passers-by.

But I know that it isn't always like that. For instance, while driving through town Debbie and I have observed couples mowing their yards. The wife is hard at work behind the mower while the husband looks like he's taking it easy. But I know from experience that there have been times when I just finished my shift with the mower and Debbie has taken over while I rest. To those driving by it looks like another lazy man letting his wife do all the work. Sometimes we're just too quick to judge aren't we? I realize that there are some out there who would lean back and let the precious little lady do it all but we're not all like that.

I don't know how many times I've criticized fellow ministers for their choice of messages or the way they handled a situation. Surely I could have done better. But over the years I've found out that the old saying about throwing stones if you live in a glass house, well, I think you see the picture. Another well used and worn phrase says, "What goes around comes around." Our criticisms have a way of coming back to us.

Debbie and I were watching the program "Survivor." You may have watched it yourself. One of the ladies on the show decided that she wanted to go home. Her mother was ill with cancer and she was having second thoughts about going away for what could have been thirty-nine days and taking a chance of something happening to her mom. My first response was that she was using that as an excuse to bail. I felt extremely guilty when it flashed on the screen that her mother passed away eight days after she left. There go those feet in my mouth again. I think I'm going to start putting sugar on my toes! It's a funny sight seeing a fat man try to get his feet in his mouth but some of us have gotten pretty good at it.

It's all too easy for us to criticize others. Often times it becomes a way to take attention from ourselves and get it focused on someone else. It temporarily relieves the pressure on us. But let me tell you, I know from experience that it is only a temporary relief. It will come back to haunt us.

That's exactly what Jesus was talking about when He spoke of judging. He said "Don't judge so you won't be judged" (Matthew 7:1). In other words, it's best that we don't pass judgment on others especially in the light of relating how much better we could do the job or what we would have done in the same situation. How do we really know that? Since I've been quoting worn clichs here what about the one that says "Don't judge a man until you've walked a mile in his shoes?" That's pretty sound advice. So we might want to take a moment and toss that stone up in the air a few times while we think about it before we hurl it at someone, especially if we live in that glass house!

Jerry D. Ousley is the author of ?Soul Challenge?, ?Soul Journey?, ?Ordeal?, ?The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel ?The Shoe Tree.? Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge.

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