"Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you." Romans 12:3
Judgment and criticism are fruit of deeper problem -- pride. When the "I" in us is bigger than it should be, it will always cause the kinds of problems such as friction in relationships. The Bible repeatedly warns us about being high-minded.
Whenever we excel in an area, it is only because GOD has given us a gift of grace for it. If we are high-minded or have exaggerated opinion of ourselves, then it causes us to look down on others and value them as "less than" we are. This type of attitude or thinking is extremely detestable to the Lord, and it opens many doors for the enemy in our lives.
The devil loves to keep us busy, mentally judging the faults of others. That way, we never see or deal with what is wrong with us.
We cannot change others, only GOD can. We cannot change ourselves either, but we can cooperate with the Holy Spirit and allow Him to do the work. First step to any freedom, however, is to FACE THE TRUTH the Lord is trying to show us. Remember, your actions won't change until your mind does. "You cannot change what you do not acknowledge." One will never change if he keeps giving excuses to his faults or mistakes instead of acknowledging them before God and initiate willingness and effort to change.
When we have our thoughts and conversation on what is wrong with everyone else, we are usually being deceived about our own conduct. Therefore, Jesus commanded that we not concern ourselves with what is wrong with others when we have so much wrong with ourselves. Allow GOD to deal with you first, and then you will learn the scripture way of helping your brother grow in his Christian walk.
"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
We ALL make mistakes. We ALL have weaknesses. The Bible says that we are not to have a hard-hearted, critical spirit toward each other, but instead, to forgive one another and to show mercy to one another just as GOD for Christ's sake has done for us.
"We often look at ourselves through rose-colored glasses, but we look at everyone else through a magnifying glass." This is giving ourselves more than enough privilege to err but giving far less tolerance when others fall short of our expectations. We make excuses for our own behavior, but when someone else does the same thing we do, we are often merciless.
The best way to battle pride, judgment and criticism in our thoughts and deeds is to replace our thoughts with the Word. To recite it in our head, and much better verbally, and let the enemy know that we are not going to succumb to what he is trying to do -- destroy our character. The character GOD is creating in us. It will be helpful if we speak this verse often, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." [James 4:6] To remind us that GOD is not pleased with those who look at themselves highly than they should. In fact, there is nothing that we can brag about in this world. We are nothing. Everything comes from GOD. What right do we have to compare ourselves to others and tell ourselves we are better than them? It's like telling ourselves, "GOD loves me more that's why He created me better than everyone of you". Truth of the matter is, God shows no favoritism (Romans 2:11).
If we are serious in our walk with God, we do not want to allow the enemy pollute our minds with "I-am-better-than-everyone-else" mentality. We got to start making an honest assessment of ourselves. Acknowledge before God that we started the habit of comparing and judging. It is impossible to get from wrong behavior to right behavior without first changing thoughts. If we strongly believe and cling to what we believe that there's nothing wrong with us, then, God can never begin His work in us. The character and destiny He intends for us will have to take long before we can finally see and receive them. Or, they may never come. We are saved, yes, but without complete freedom and victory.
Are there any prayers you've been telling God for years and for the longest time you still don't see them happening? No answer whatsoever? Why not take some time to meditate...make an honest assessment of yourself..."what needs to be changed in me that God is silent about my prayer?" Is it pride? Is it your critical mind?
What supposed to be just an eleven-day journey took forty long years of journey only because of attitudes not corrected. (Deuteronomy 1) We can keep hoping forever all we want that our prayers will be answered and yet we're not willing to listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying, it might take us more than 40 years to receive our heart's desires.
The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart. 1 Samuel 16:7
It is wise to be real honest with ourselves about issues concerning our hearts. Are our thoughts right with God? How about our attitudes?
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“A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and, of course, as long as you're looking down, you can't see something that's above you.” ~ C.S. Lewis
Through pride we are ever deceiving ourselves. But deep down below the surface of the average conscience a still, small voice says to us, something is out of tune. ~ Carl Jung
Pride is an admission of weakness; it secretly fears all competition and dreads all rivals. ~ Fulton John Sheen
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