Having passed through the difficult period of doubt, which he reasoned was brought about by an attack from his ego, he became more determined than ever to follow the promptings of the Spirit within. However, he was thankful for this temporary delay as it had brought him down to earth and to what he now saw as a more balanced attitude towards attempting his goal of becoming more like Jesus.
He started to examine some of his failings to determine where he needed to change. Wow! A kaleidoscope of issues immediately raised their heads. So much so, that he decided the best course of action might be to look at each one individually.
His being judgemental of others was where he decided to make a start. He found it so easy to make a critical statement about someone who, in his opinion, was not performing in the way he would prefer. Or about the person themselves who didn’t fit the mould he envisaged for them.
Sometimes he knew these judgements corresponded with similar views held by his listeners and discussions would often ensue that painted the person being criticised in a very poor light indeed. In addition, he felt he would also gain a heightened personal approval for his stance and this was good for his ego.
The words of Jesus came to mind, “Judge not, lest you should be judged.” So, he thought, how am I going to let Jesus do the judging and I instead, do the loving?
His first reaction was to become aware that when someone else was criticising another, then he needed not to enter into the conversation, or if asked for an opinion try and offer something positive about the person. He knew this type of reaction wouldn’t win him many friends but then he thought about how the Apostles had tried to shield Jesus from people seen as ‘undesirable.’ Yet Jesus had offered to dine at a tax collectors house and had saved a prostitute from a stoning.
He was determined to ‘bite his tongue,’ as the saying goes, instead of blurting forth with a tirade of cynical remarks whenever he saw something he didn’t like. This would not be easy, as it required him to stop and think before he spoke or responded. While to some, this might seem boring and place a dampener on the discussion, a person, created by the same God that created us all might not get the lambasting that would have been handed out, had the discussion continued in the normal manner.
I’m Peter Mack and that’s faith.