"I thank you that I am not like other men"

The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed  thus: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.' Luke 18:11,12 ESV

photo  ©2009  Leland Francisco, Flickr

Today’s post is a follow up on my last post. I’ve been thinking alot lately about the Pharisees and how easy it is to become like them. We must examine ourselves regularly to see if Pharisaical  qualities may be creeping into our lives. Simply put many of the Pharisees were self righteous hypocrites, and none of us is beyond becoming like minded.

The Pharisee in the above passage thought quite highly of himself. He was thankful that he wasn’t like other men, because he was very religious. After all he did just what the scriptures told him to do. He wasn’t like other men that were not as religious or as learned as he was. He even liked to remind God of how religious he was.

Did you notice in the his prayer he didn’t give God credit for his perceived righteousness. He thanked Him that he wasn’t like other men. He believed his attention to religious details made him different than other men.

We too can become like this man if we focus on all that we do right, compared to others. It’s always easy to look at others and see how they don’t measure up to our standard of biblical christianity. We must be careful about such things as judging someone else’s servant. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. Romans 14:4 ESV God knows the heart of everyone that serves Him, He is the one to pass judgement on us as well as others.

So today, let’s set our minds and hearts on our service to God on His terms and know our righteousness comes from Him and not from our own religious piety.

© 2013 Leo J. Woodman