Simple Devotions
For the Complex Life
Do As I...



I have to be honest, this is not one of my favorite verses, because everytime I read it, it reminds me I have to actually DO what I tell other people to do. It means I can't just tell someone what to do, but I have to show them through my own personal life.

That's not the kind of world we live in today is it? How many parents tell their kids to "do what I say, not what I do?" How many smokers tell other people "not to smoke." Even our employers have fallen to this hypocritical life style... for example the manager who complains that you are 10 minutes late to work, when that is his daily habit?

I think it all comes down to the "log in the eye," verses the "speck in the eye." We look at our brothers, our sisters, our neighbors, and friends and immediately see what is wrong with their life. We immediately see where they are falling short, and like a little kid we ask "Does that hurt?" We try to take the "speck" out of their eye, without thinking about the "log" in our own. Mainly because looking at their flaws doesn't hurt us, or make us feel bad.

But as soon as we start touching that "log" in our eye, start moving it, trying to pull it out we realize how bad it is. We realize WE have a BIG problem, and big problems are easier to ignore than they are to change. But as Christians we cannot allow ourselves to ignore these problems. We cannot allow ourselves to become hypocrites, because no matter how well we have taught others, they will DO as we DO.

So today, take a good look at yourself. And just like you would in real life, when you find the "log" or "logs" in your eye, take care of it. Become someone people can look up to, and follow. Become someone who can say, "Do what I do, as I do it."

http://www.simpledevotions.org/2007/09/3/do-as-i.html