Building One Another

INTEGRITY Vol 13 No 14

August 26, 2014

Dear Friend,

If you are the least bit humble you know very well that your “inner you” and your “outer you” do not always line up. That what you think and dwell on may be very different from your behavior. 

A fascinating moment took place when Jesus was invited to have dinner with a Pharisee, a strict follower of the Law of Moses: “While he was speaking, a Pharisee invited him to dine with him; so he went in and took his place at the table. The Pharisee was amazed to see that he did not first wash before dinner.  Then the Lord said to him, ‘Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.’” Luke 11:37-39*

In Matthew we see Jesus put this even more bluntly: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful, but inside they are full of the bones of the dead and all kinds of filth.” Matthew 23:27

These days of summer often afford us a little more time to reflect on our lives, on the level of our intimacy with the Lord who loves us and our tremendous need of grace because of the disconnect between our inner and outer selves.

A wonderful prayer are these words of Psalm 139:23-24: "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

Joy to you - E. Stanley Ott
Copyright 2014 E. Stanley Ott
*Scripture from the NRSV