Monday's Resolution {Dealing With My Own Planks-In-The-Eye}

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We are picking apart Jonathan Edward's 70 Resolutions, one week and one resolution at a time. Don't forget to start where he did- "Being sensible that I am unable to do anything without God's help, I do humbly entreat Him by His grace to enable me to keep these Resolutions, so far as they are agreeable to His will, for Christ's sake."

21. Resolved, never to do anything, which if I should see in another, I should count a just occasion to despise him for, or to think anyway the more meanly of him.

Here again, in Resolution 21, I find that Jonathan Edwards is revealing a part of my heart rarely exposed. One thing is for certain- this great pastor and theologian really knew the condition of the human heart, both his own and others.

This part of my heart? It's the ugly part that looks down my nose at others, judges or criticizes their actions which I've deemed unsuitable... all the while overlooking my own discrepancies in the same area. I might have done the exact same thing last week, or may be about to make a mistake identical to theirs next week.


Do you find yourself holding others to a higher standard than that which you hold yourself to? Yeah, me too.

It's time to turn the light onto myself, to prayerfully work at removing the plank in my own eye, and to leave the splinters in my neighbor's alone.

Resolution 21 isn't about despising or thinking lowly of others. It's about filtering my actions through my own eyes, with the tables turned- if I saw someone else speaking like that to her child, would I think she was a bad mother? If so-and-so down the road partook in this questionable activity, would it cause me to think less of them?

What I find when I look at my heart in this way is that I still have a lot of personal sin remaining that must be dealt with. There are way too many planks in my eye that I ought to be busy about- really, I haven't got the time or business to go splinter picking in someone else's eye.

Daily, I must examine my own heart in light of the Scriptures. Daily I must humble myself before the Lord, with a heart willing and ready to be changed by Him. Daily I must be busy about the business of plank removal, otherwise known as the mortification of sin.

How's your plank removal been going lately?