Plucking Out the Divisive Wedge in Your Relationships

Yet that was the point. God wanted me to humble myself. Owning my sin and confessing it is only way to rid myself of hypocrisy!

I pulled in the driveway and went immediately to my desk. I wrote my mother-in-law a letter, telling her about the discussion in Bible study that morning. Then I said:

I am so convicted about how I spoke to you. I was so busy pointing out the things that I saw in you, I didn’t even hear how horrible I must have sounded. What an ugly, self-centered heart I had! I didn’t even stop to wonder why you might be so upset. … I didn’t take the time to consider your feelings on the matter. I only focused on how ridiculous the situation seemed to me and completely exempted myself from the “log” sticking out of my own eye.

I’m very sorry for treating you this way. It’s a decade or so late, but I wish I could take it back. I wish I had been more concerned with evaluating and judging the contents of my own heart rather than yours.

With the stamped letter in hand, I arrived at my mailbox just as the mail truck drove up. I was thankful I would not be able to snatch the letter back.

A week or so later, I got a letter in return. My mother-in-law opened by saying, “Well, glory be!” It was a sweet note, filled with praise to God for our relationship. That letter is still in my desk drawer. It was the last letter I received from her, for she died just months after she sent it.

Friends, we could spend a lifetime convinced that we see with perfect clarity just how wrong someone else is. But how willing are we to look at ourselves?

Hypocrites point out the flaws in everyone else, but never themselves. Jesus invites us to do the opposite—to first look at the words coming out of our own mouths, and consider the changes that need to take place in our own hearts.

Copyright © 2001 – 2016 Revive Our Hearts. Shannon Popkin is a speaker and writer from Grand Rapids, Michigan, who enjoys blending her love for humor and storytelling with her passion for God’s Word. Shannon’s first book, Control Girl: Lessons on Surrendering Your Burden of Control From 7 Women of the Bible will be published by Kregel Publications in 2016. On her blog, Shannon shares “Tiny Paragraphs” from everyday life as a wife and mom—stories which gain significance as they are tucked back into the One True Story of God.