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Why Look for Flaws?, August 14
Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of
mind let each esteem other better than themselves.
Philippians 2:3
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Oh, how hard many make the Christian life! They climb the steep,
briary path, staggering under imposed burdens, as though they must tinker
up the characters of others.... They do not experience the sweet peace
of Christ. They do not grasp the help Jesus gives them, but they are
continually grieving over supposed wrongs of others, and overlook the
cheering, blessed tokens for good all along their pathway.
Just as soon as one has a vivid and all-absorbing consciousness of his
own personal accountability to God and of his duty to his fellow men,
and senses that his influence is far reaching, stretching into eternity, he
will not be satisfied with a low standard, he will not be faultfinding and
critical of others. He will make his own life what he would wish the lives
of others to be. He will live only in Christ, utterly and wholly dependent
on Him for every beauty and loveliness of character.
We should be weeding out of our thoughts all complaining and fault-
finding. Let us not continue to look upon any defects that we may see....
If we would get the right hold on God, we must keep beholding the great
precious things—the purity, the glory, the power, the kindness, the affec-
tion, the love, that God bestows upon us. And thus beholding, our minds
will become so fixed upon these things of eternal interest that we shall
have no desire to find the flaws in others.
Think of the Lord Jesus, and His merits and His love, but do not seek
to find the defects and dwell upon the mistakes that others have made.
Call to your mind the things worthy of your recognition and your praise;
and if you are sharp to discern errors in others, be more sharp to recognize
the good and praise the good. You may, if you criticize yourselves, find
things just as objectionable as that which you see in others. Then let us
work constantly to strengthen one another in the most holy faith.
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