Self: Self-Righteous

Self: Self-Righteous

See the Wonders of God
A preacher wrote: "Last summer I stood looking over a Highland river valley lit with a beautiful sunset, and I marveled at the work of God in nature. I turned to a farmer friend and said, 'What a privilege it is for you to live amid such beauty!' He thought for a moment and said, 'Aye, man, it's grand sheep country.' I have many farmer friends who would have bared their heads at the very thought of the wonders of God in nature, but this man's sense of the beautiful was clouded by the pursuit of the material. Oh, how often we lift our eyes from the face of the vision God gives us and turn them on our mirrors and see only self; self counting the sheep and the cattle; self getting rich, climbing the ladder of earthly success; self winning favor in the eyes of men. Not that these things are not worthwhile in their place on earth-they are! But when we make them our only end in life, we miss all that is best and most beautiful."

Too Close to the Mirror
A stern old saint used to bemoan the wickedness of the world which to her was going from bad to worse. She seemed to be obsessed with the idea that, except for herself and her own circle of friends, no one else was saved. She stood so close to the mirror of life that she and her immediate surroundings dominated the view. Had she only stepped back or to one side, she would have had a much better perspective of life as a whole. Another Christian saw in the mirror all the wonderful manifestations of the working of God, news of which seemed to be reaching her from every quarter-from the slums, from the mission field, from all the darkened corners of the earth where light was dawning. How poor life seems to be when it is only a shadowy background to the all-absorbing form of self. How glorious when we step out of the picture and let the larger landscape sweep into view.

None Righteous
An Indian and a white man were brought under deep conviction of sin by the same sermon. The Indian was immediately led to rejoice in pardoning mercy. The white man was in distress for a long time, almost to despair. But at last he was brought to a joyous sense of sins forgiven. Sometime after, while meeting his Indian brother, he said to him, "How is it that I should be so long under conviction, when you found peace at once?" "Oh, brother," replied the Indian, "I will tell you. There comes along a rich prince. He proposes to give you a new coat; you look at your coat and say, 'I don't know; my coat looks pretty good; it will do a little longer.' He then offered me a new coat. I look at my old blanket; I say, 'This is good for nothing,' and accept the beautiful new garment. Just so, brother, you try to keep your own righteousness. You won't give it up; but I, poor Indian, could see that I had none, so I was glad at once to receive the righteousness of God-the Lord Jesus Christ."

Two Sides to Every Question
Someone once remarked, "There are two sides to every question-my side and the wrong side." An illustration of this concerns an argument that arose between two young chaplains of different denominations. The senior chaplain said, "Let's bury the hatchet, my brother. After all, we are both doing the Lord's work, aren't we?" "We certainly are," said the junior chaplain, quite disarmed. "Let us do it, then, to the best of our ability, you in your way, and I in His." I'm afraid too many of us are inclined to think our ways are the Lord's ways, and the ways of other fellow Christians fall short of that standard.

Average Morality Is No Morality
Many of us are like that man who prided himself on his morality and some specific virtues and said, "I am pretty good on the whole. I sometimes get mad and speak a couple of unnecessary words, but then I am pretty honest. I work on my farm on Sundays when there's work to be done, but I give a good deal to the poor and have never gotten drunk in my life." This man one day hired a Christian to build a fence around his pasture. He gave him very specific instructions. In the evening when the Scotsman came in from work, the man said, "Well, Jack, is the fence built, and is it good and strong?" "I cannot say it is all tight and strong," Jack replied, "but it's a good average fence, anyhow. If some parts are a little weak, others are extra strong. I have left a little gap here and there, a yard or so wide, but I made up for it by doubling the rails on each side of the gap. I dare say the cattle will find it a good fence on the whole and will like it, though I cannot say it is perfect in every part." "What!" cried the man, not seeing the point, "Do you mean to tell me that you built a fence around my lot with weak places and gaps in it? Why, you might as well have built no fence at all. If there is one gap or a place where an opening can be made, the cattle will be sure to find it and will be sure to go through. Don't you know, man, that a fence must be perfect or it is worthless?" "I used to think so," said the man, "but I hear you talking so much about averaging matters with the Lord, it seems to me we might try it with the cattle."

Respectable Sinner
A gentleman once took exception to a message based upon the Word of God concerning Jew and Gentile, that both are guilty before God. The preacher remarked, "But the Word of God distinctly says, 'There is no difference: for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God' " (Romans 3:22-23). The preacher's friend then replied, "Do you mean to say that there is no difference between an honest man and a dishonest one, between an intemperate man and a sober man?" "No," the preacher remarked, "I did not affirm that there was no room for comparison between such cases; but my position is, if two men were standing here together, one an intemperate man and the other a sober man, I should say of the one, 'This man is an intemperate sinner; the other is a sober sinner.' " Our friend did not know how to meet the difficulty, but answered, "Well, I don't like such teaching." Very quietly the preacher replied, "Then I will make some concession and meet your difficulty. I will admit that many are 'superior sinners,' and that you are a superior sinner." What consternation was pictured on the face of the respectable sinner. Sometimes it is harder for respectable sinners to be justified because of their self-righteousness than it is for out-and-out sinners.

Hindrance to Spiritual Growth
A young preacher frequently talked with a wise old farmer. One day the question under discussion was, "What is the greatest hindrance to spiritual growth and happiness?" The preacher said, "Surely it is failure to renounce our sinful self." "No," said the farmer, "the greatest hindrance is failure to renounce our righteous self."

First, Look in the Mirror
A man prayed complainingly to Almighty God about a neighbor, saying, "O Lord, take away this wicked person." And God said, "Which?"

Layers of Self
"Man is like an onion," said A. T. Pierson, "layer after layer, and each a layer of self in some form. Strip off self-righteousness and you will come to self-trust. Get beneath this and you will come to self-seeking and self-pleasing. Even when we think these are abandoned, self-will betrays its presence. When this is stripped off, we come to self-defense, just as the Corinthians did-the word of the puffed up-and last of all, self-glory. When this seems to be abandoned, the heart of the human onion discloses pride that boasts of being truly humble."