Day 26 - Sitting by and Finding Fault

“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 own 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

Each year when we start back to school, we are reminded about how to positively interact with our students.  Then right before parent teacher conferences, we are reminded that for every negative we have concerning a child we should also have 6 positives. 

It is so easy to find fault with others.  For some people, that is what they live for. I know a few "Negative Nancy's."  These people are discouraging, negative, party poopers.  Nobody does anything right, yet Negative Nancy never does anything wrong.

I don't know about you, but I don't like to be around people like that.  I like people who are uplifting, postive, considerate, encouraging, and fun loving.

I think if we look around our workplace, circle of friends/aquaintances, family, and churches, we would be able to quickly name some of these people who sit by and find faults. 

What if we criticized our husbands all the time? They would not feel respected.

What if we criticized our children all the time?  They would feel worthless and unloved and have no self esteem.

What if we criticized our friends all the time?  They wouldn't want to be friends with us anymore.

If we are continuing to look for faults, we risk missing out.  We can miss out on friendships. We can miss out on our personal growth, mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. We can miss our on God's gifts and blessings. 

If we continuously look for faults, our lives become so filled with negative energy that we can't possibly enjoy what God has to offer.

One thing I tell my students and their parents at the beginning of the school year is, "I'm not perfect.  I'm going to make mistakes."

It is important that we look for the good.  We acknowledge the good.

It is important that we lift up and encourage others.

It is important that we LOVE LIKE JESUS.