June 16th, 2006

Hypocrisy

Thou hypocrite, first cast the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast the mote out of thy brother’s eye.

So this morning I was reading in 3rd Nephi, and came across this verse:

Thou hypocrite, first cast the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast the mote out of thy brother’s eye. (3 Ne. 14:5, c.f. Matt. 7:5)

It got me thinking… To one degree or another, we are all hypocrites. We all, myself definitely included, tend to hold others to a higher standard than we hold ourselves. We look down upon the sins of others so easily, when ours are probably pretty comparable.

How many times do we see people attempting to expose the faults, sins, and mistakes of others? Whether in politics, religion, academia, or life in general, I think it is human nature to point the finger and shift blame.

That is why Jesus asks more of us. He’s trying to take the natural man out of us. He’s trying to lift us to a higher level. This is further demonstrated by the fact that the verses surrounding his denouncement of hypocrisy speak of not judging others and treating others the way we would be treated.

We are all imperfect creatures, (hopefully) moving forward on our journey towards perfection. Let’s try to cut each other some slack, give each other the benefit of the doubt, and help each other.

No comments yet.

Leave a Reply

Leave your opinion here. Please be nice. Your Email address will be kept private.