And why do you look at the speck in
your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me
remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your
own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s
eye. Matthew 7:3-5
The other day, a lady fell while
walking, and broke her nose. With her
face on the ground covered with blood, my wife raced to help her, and summonsed
my daughter and me to assist. We found
out that she lived about a half mile down the street. I offered to take her home, and we offered to
pick her up. She kindly refused, and
asked that I get her husband. I raced
over to the address she gave to get him.
He picked up his son, and they drove to meet me at the location where
his wife was. As he arrived, he asked if
she could get up. She acknowledged that
she was not sure. He asked her to get
up, and my wife helped her get to her feet.
They walked her to the car, and soon, they were on their way. My wife and I were grateful we were able to
help them, and gave praise to God that we could.
This is the kind of story we tell
about how we as Christians help others in need.
They are indeed necessary and reinforce the goodness of God. But what if this was not the full story. What if there was a bit more color in this
picture. How would it change? Here is how.
The other day, a lady fell while
walking, and broke her nose. With her
face on the ground covered with blood, my wife raced to help her, and summonsed
my daughter and me to assist. We found
out that she lived about a half mile down the street. I offered to take her home, and we offered to
pick her up. She kindly refused, and only asked that I get her husband. I raced over to the address she gave to get
him. I rang the doorbell, and there was no answer. I knocked.
Still no answer. I went back to
my car only to notice the husband getting in his car in the driveway. I asked if his wife was named ‘Linda.’ He said yes.
He received a message on his phone about the accident, and was on his
way. He picked up his son, and
they drove to meet me at the location where his wife was. I noticed right
away something wasn’t right when we talked.
Why didn’t he seem concerned? In
fact, why did he look inconvenienced?
Furthermore, why didn’t he follow me back? I arrived at location of the accident, and he
arrived a minute later. As he arrived, he asked if she could
get up. She acknowledged that she was
not sure. He asked her to get up looking at us as if he
was embarrassed that we, an African American family, had helped her, and
my wife helped her get to her feet. They
walked her to the car, and soon, they were on their way. There
was no thank you. No gratitude. Just left. My wife and I were grateful we were able to
help them, and gave praise to God that we could for
our act of kindness may change their hearts one day.
God’s love truly does conquer all,
and while we stand in the light of His grace, we stand in a world where
darkness still exists. I share this not
because of a belief that people are racist.
I share because an awesome and amazing God tells us to serve Him above
all our prejudices and feelings. God
would not want us to ever tolerate this type of behavior, and to accept it at
any level is a failure. My wife and I
choose to forgive remaining as loving of others as God is as loving of us. Any failure to love others is the plank we
must remove from our own eyes. Only then
can we see how hurtful it is when people do not love God’s people as we do. We pray that those who read this would also
choose never accept the type of behavior we endured. My prayer is your eyes are open to this. Please.
Amen.
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