Building Your Case

"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?
How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your eye?  You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."
Matthew 7:3-5    (NIV)

"It's easy to see a smudge on your neighbor's face and be oblivious to the sneer on your own.  Do you have the nerve to say, ' Let me wash your face for you,' when your own face is distorted by contempt?  It's the whole traveling road-show mentality all over again, playing a holier-than-thou part instead of just living your part. Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face, and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor.  Matthew 7:3-5 (Message)

A few weeks ago I became angry at my son-in-law for not following through on something that he had agreed to do.  As I was "building my case" against my son-in-law: God spoke.

"When you are focused on the faults of others you lose sight of the things I want you to work on in yourself."

For about 10 seconds I said, "yah, but he (son-in-law) said he would do…"  I stopped and God's words came into my being.  In the spiritual battle for my mind the Holy Spirit put my defense to rest. Fortunately for me I lost my case.  My body became very still and my mind was silent.  The fight was over and the case building stopped.

We can move fairly fast when we build our case against someone.  Anger is one of those emotions that can quickly rise out of control.  It can become a fire burning down the hillsides.  Our thoughts and words can become gasoline fueling that fire.  I am not saying we won't or shouldn't get angry.  I am saying that it is our job to train ourselves in anger to go to God fast.  It's only God that can help us quench the fire to burning ambers and eventually extinguish the fire.

When the fire is out of control we open the door to Satan and invite him to come inside.  God wants us to have and use discernment.  However, we have to learn to recognize when we cross the line from discernment to criticism and judgement.  Judgement is never ours.  It belongs to God only.

In this situation my son-in-law didn't do what he said he would do.  Even though he didn't keep his word; God let me know that I had crossed the line to criticism.  I don't have to like my son-in-law's behavior but I don't have to build a case against him.

How do we build a case against someone? The thing that we are upset about becomes bigger and bigger to the point where our anger is out of proportion to what happened and; or if we have a history with the person we will dig up and remember every time we felt hurt by that person.

God turns us back to ourselves. The Holy Spirit speaks to us all the time.  If we want to hear the Holy Spirit we have to listen.  When we are "building our case" and making our selves right our hearing is limited.

If you choose to hear and obey God the case building stops and the anger diminishes or ceases to exist. What you are left with is the presence of God.  It doesn't get better than that people.

Father God help us understand that we can't change others. Only you are that powerful.
Help us look and see what we need to change.
Help us Father God to believe that when You trim us You grow us.
We invite You to change us.