Stars In The Universe

this week i've been focused on two areas of The Word. i don't really know why i picked these two, i think they kind of picked me. they are: Matthew 7 and Philippians 2. all day today (while i should be working), i've been focusing on a few specific areas of these chapters.

Matthew 7:1 "Do not judge, or you too will be judged"

Matthew 7:3 "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?"

Philippians 2:3 "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves."

Philippians 2:14-15 "Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe"

how difficult is it to live without judging and without complaining? are you kidding me, that's a constant struggle for pretty much everyone. and i think those two things go hand in hand. we see someone doing something, and we judge and complain...it's practically second nature.

while pondering this though on the way back from lunch today, there was someone driving ahead of me...and let's just say their driving abilities were "less than desireable". immediately, caught up in the moment, i forgot about what i had been studying all week and got annoyed. i saw the speck of dust in their eye but paid no attention to the huge tree in my own!

how often do we see something and remember that we're sinners too...that we mess up all the time also... that we're called to "consider them better than ourselves". i know i don't do it nearly often enough. perhaps that's why the stars in the universe seem so far away from us sometimes...