Broken Toys

"And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye but do not consider the plank in your own eye?"

We all may be able to remember a time in our lives where we had a broken toy. It always seemed like our favorite toy was the one to break - not the one thrown in the back of the closet that we could care less about! In that moment of discovering our toy broken, we immediately sought out the help of our parent to fix it, whether that meant using super glue, regular glue, tape or anything that would restore our precious object back to its whole state. We wanted it restored so that we could make use of it again for our pleasures. We had little concern and maybe even understanding for whether or not the toy's shelf life had ended. We didn't really care that the toy was not built to last forever; we just wanted to use it in all of the ways that we saw fit. All we knew was that we needed our toy fixed so that we could be whole again.

This is the revelation I received regarding our prayers for those around us. We have come to look at their usefulness or functionality in a way that is actually very self-centered. When our family, friends or loved ones are not functioning in the ways we feel they should so that we can feel ok, we believe that it is due to change that needs to occur in them. We begin praying lofty prayers asking God to change them, deliver them, make them act right and the like. Essentially, our prayer is that God fixes them so that we are able to go on about our day in peace. But God's Word doesn't tell us to focus on what's wrong with them. His Word admonishes us to take a look at ourselves.

In Matthew 7:3-5, it addresses this very issue. It says, "And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye." (New Living Translation) Here Jesus addresses our tendency to easily point out the faults and flaws of others yet struggle to deal with our own. He compares our flaws and faults to the flaws and faults of others by referring to ours as logs and theirs as specks. We can easily identify the minor things in others' lives that may irritate and frustrate us, although we may have major things in our lives that need to be dealt with. He calls us hypocrites when we do this! Oftentimes our inability to be patient and longsuffering with our brothers and sisters in Christ is not because of their behaviors, but it is because of those things in us that need to be submitted to God so He can deal with us!

Let us be reminded of this scripture also:

"Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others." (Colossians 3:12-14, NLT)

So, I encourage you to change how you pray. Ask God to show you the areas in your life that need to be dealt with. When you find yourself irritated and/or frustrated by the actions and behaviors of others, as God "What is this saying about me, Lord?" Pray that God will allow the fruit of longsuffering to abound in your life so that you are able to reflect inward before lashing outward.

XO,