Day 3 Grow into an Emotionally Mature Believer

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 Day 3
Friday, February 20, 2015
         Jeff Lampl        

 
                          "He continued to pray just as he had always done."  Daniel 6:10
 
  Begin
  Silence, Stillness, and Centering before God (2 minutes)             

Scripture Reading: Matthew 7:1-5

Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.  

Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brothers 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."           

Devotional

From the third to the fifth century, the Desert Fathers left a rich deposit of wisdom about how a genuine life with God must lead to a mature, non-judgmental love towards others.

The monk must die to his neighbor and never judge him at all in any way whatever.

If you are occupied with your own faults, you have no time to see those of your neighbor.75

  Many of us have no trouble at all dispensing advice or pointing out the wrongdoings of
  others.  We don't tend to allow others to be themselves before God or move at their own
  pace. Instead, we project onto them our own discomfort with their choice to live life
  differently than we do. The result is that we end up eliminating them in our minds, either
  trying to make them like us, or falling into a who cares?   Indifference.  

 

  Unless I first take the log out of my own eye, knowing that I have huge blind spots,
  I am dangerous.  I must see the extensive damage sin has done to every part of who
  I am - emotion, intellect, body, will, and spirit - before I can attempt to remove the speck
  from my brother's eye.

 

  Questions to Consider        

  Is there  someone God is calling you to stop judging?  What might it look like to bless
  them  and extend mercy to them.          

Prayer      

  Abba Father, forgive me for having so many opinions about so many people and judging
  them.  Wipe my slate clean and give me grace to see my own logs instead of rushing to
  judge others.  In Jesus' name, amen.        
  

Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
  
 Download the entire devotional for free
http://www.emotionallyhealthy.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/dailyoffice.pdf 

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