TAKE A LOOK AT YOURSELF AND MAKE A CHANGE
“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?” Matthew 7:4-5
In my household, there are a few chores, like taking care of the pets, mowing the lawn, and keeping the house clean. The chores are all split up between the four kids in my family. One week, I was cleaning the house. I had finished everything but my younger sister’s room. She is nine years younger than me, so I helped her vacuum and tidy up a bit. As I was cleaning, I came across the most shocking mess. There was glitter, paint, beads, and some sort of a suspicious gooey liquid all over the floor. I could not believe how messy a six-year-old could be! As I started scrubbing away the mess, I wondered how my parents let her get her room that messy. After about 30 minutes of judging while cleaning, I saw something that made me freeze in my tracks. On a chair by her table, was a bowl full of smashed mica, sand, and paste. I just stood and stared at it. It did not make me stop because of how gross it was. I stopped because I had made the same exact thing when I was her age. That is when it hit me. My parents were okay with her room just like they had been patient with my room so many years ago. No doubt, when I was her age my room was just as messy, or maybe even worse! I had no right to judge her. If anything she could have been judging me. How many times every day do we judge the people around us? We judge people based on what they wear, how they speak, who they hang out with, and so much more. We judge even though we have problems of our own. We often compare our problems with others to make ourselves feel better. We tell ourselves it is okay because we are not as bad as so-and-so, even though we conveniently forget how big our own problems are or how much they hurt those around us. The Bible says we should not be doing this. We do not have the right to judge each other because we are all sinners. There is only One who is capable of judging us: Jesus. He says we should love each other. Today, I challenge you to stop and think before you judge someone.
By: Emily Ottinger ('22)
Candler, North Carolina