Dried Spaghetti Sauce

Hello everyone.  Please remember to pray for our nation and its leaders.  Even in these trying times let’s remember to keep God first in our lives and do our best to live peaceably with all men.

 This morning, I noticed one of our bowls from last night was left out on the counter.  The remnants of spaghetti sauce had dried at the bottom and around the edges of the bowl.  I rinsed it off to put in the dishwasher. 

 There was a problem.  I only saw from one side of the bowl across to the other side.  I neglected to look at the side closest to me.  It had spaghetti sauce on that side too. I’m glad I gave it a final look, so I could rinse it out all the way around.

 Isn’t it sad that we notice things happening over there on the other side, and fail to notice what is going on right under our eyes?  It might be that we see or hear another person’s child across the room.  Perhaps we even comment to someone else about that child’s misbehavior.  We forget our own son did the same thing last week. 

It is easy to point out someone else’s fault than it is to see our own.  Sometimes those things we notice are the very things we are guilty of.  We either truly do not see those same faults in ourselves, or we refuse to acknowledge them.  Maybe we point out the faults of another to distract people from our own.

We must be very careful to avoid this type of attitude.  We should examine ourselves and come to terms with our own shortcomings, even asking for forgiveness if necessary. 

God does not want us to tear down our brothers and sisters in Christ. We are all part of His body. It is hard enough to make it in this world without having to deal with that kind of thing from our own church family.

Christ said we are to love one another.  Ephesians 4:29 tells us the only talk that should come out of our mouths is what is good for building people up.  Paul continued in Ephesians 4:31-32 “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”

I really didn’t intend to go this direction with the dirty bowl illustration, but it is where I ended up.  At any rate, isn’t it better to build people up than it is to point fingers? 

And isn’t it good to clean up our own bowl (life) ? We should look at ourselves carefully – and not just at what we see first.  Let’s remember to see others as Christ did and keep ourselves free from any hardness of heart. 

"Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience" (Colossians 3:12).

Christ above all things - Robin