Day 20 - Intense Treatment - Working through our past and unlocking doors to our future

Alluring God,

Thank you for calling us to a place of rest when we are in Christ.  Thank you that while we have to "work out" our salvation, we don't have to "work for" our salvation, because the grace of Christ has already provided for that.  Thank you that your Word is alive, active, sharper than a two-sided sword, and penetrating to a person's inmost being.  Thank you that your Word judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart, leaving us to not judge others but trust in you for judgement.  Thank you that because Jesus is our great high priest, we can hold firmly to the faith we profess and approach your throne of grace with confidence.  

Thank you for alluring us when we go astray.  You are the one who makes places of disappointment in our lives into places of new opportunity and hope for a new future.  So, help us to confess, receive forgiveness, and move forward from the past and its regrets and bitterness.  Help us to allow you to prune us so we are a sweet, not bitter, offering to you.   We receive mercy and find grace to assist us in our time of need.  Help us to throw off everything that hinders us - especially the sin that so easily entangles us - so that we can run with perseverance the race marked out for us as we fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.  We know that running the race of life means you will discipline us for our good, in order that we may share in your holiness and produce a harvest of righteousness and peace.  Help us to make every effort to be at peace with everyone and allow you to do that disciplining, so that we can be holy and see God.  Do not let us fail to lay hold of the grace of God.  Do not let bitter roots of pride, animosity, rivalry, or anything else harmful to others grow up and cause trouble within and around us.  

Unlock the doors of hope in our lives.  Give us mercy as you renew your covenant with us.  May we be connected - betrothed - to you forever in righteousness, justice, love, compassion, and faithfulness as we acknowledge you as Lord.  Plant us in the land of covenant blessing you have for us.  Flow through us the new wine and oil of your Spirit as our lives come into agreement more fully with the Abundant Life you have for us.  Since we are receiving a Kingdom that cannot be shaken, may we be thankful and so worship you acceptably with reverence and awe, for you, our God, are a consuming fire.  With the empowerment of Holy Spirit and in the fiery name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, we pray, Amen!

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. (Philippians 2:12-13 NIV)

A Sabbath-Rest for the People of God

4 

Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. 2 For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed.[a] 3 Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said,

“So I declared on oath in my anger,

    ‘They shall never enter my rest.’”

And yet his works have been finished since the creation of the world. 4 For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: “On the seventh day God rested from all his works." 5 And again in the passage above he says, “They shall never enter my rest.”

6 Therefore since it still remains for some to enter that rest, and since those who formerly had the good news proclaimed to them did not go in because of their disobedience, 7 God again set a certain day, calling it “Today.” This he did when a long time later he spoke through David, as in the passage already quoted:

“Today, if you hear his voice,

    do not harden your hearts.”

8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. 9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. 11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.

12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Jesus the Great High Priest

14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.  (Hebrews 4: NIV)

12 

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.  

God Disciplines His Children

4 In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,

“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,

    and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,

6 

because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,

    and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”

7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? 8 If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! 10 They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

12 Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. 13 “Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.

Warning and Encouragement

14 Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. 16 See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. 17 Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. Even though he sought the blessing with tears, he could not change what he had done.

The Mountain of Fear and the Mountain of Joy

18 You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; 19 to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, 20 because they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.” 21 The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”

22 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, 23 to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

25 See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? 26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” 27 The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain.

28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, 29 for our “God is a consuming fire.”  (Hebrews 12 NIV)

“Therefore I am now going to allure her;

    I will lead her into the wilderness

    and speak tenderly to her.

15 

There I will give her back her vineyards,

    and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope.

There she will respond[b] as in the days of her youth,

    as in the day she came up out of Egypt.

16 

“In that day,” declares the Lord,

    “you will call me ‘my husband’;

    you will no longer call me ‘my master.’

17 

I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips;

    no longer will their names be invoked.

18 

In that day I will make a covenant for them

    with the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky

    and the creatures that move along the ground.

Bow and sword and battle

    I will abolish from the land,

    so that all may lie down in safety.

19 

I will betroth you to me forever;

    I will betroth you in righteousness and justice,

    in love and compassion.

20 

I will betroth you in faithfulness,

    and you will acknowledge the Lord.

21 

“In that day I will respond,”

    declares the Lord—

“I will respond to the skies,

    and they will respond to the earth;

22 

and the earth will respond to the grain,

    the new wine and the olive oil,

    and they will respond to Jezreel.[g]

23 

I will plant her for myself in the land;

    I will show my love to the one I called ‘Not my loved one.’

I will say to those called ‘Not my people,’ ‘You are my people’;

    and they will say, ‘You are my God.’”  (Hosea 2:14-23 NIV)

Idea from:  https://www.elijahlist.com/words/display_word_pf.html?ID=25704 

Some notes from:   NIV Study Bible (c) Zondervan, 2011

Day 12 - Intense Treatment - The Spirit who measures us and moves mountains of sin, leading to peace

Spirit of the Lord,

Thank you that you measure out the places for your people to be - in your presence and your blessing.  You promise to be a wall of fire around us and that your glory will be found within us.  Thank you that you want to live within and among us and that we can know Jesus who came to be with us.  Thank you for replacing our sinful garments with new ones.  Open our eyes to see the angelic activity around us and to move as your Spirit calls us to. We pray that this nation would replace sinfulness with righteousness; we would depart from evil, do good, seek peace, and pursue it.   Thank you that you can remove the sin of this land  - that mountains of evil can be turned into righteous level ground - in a single day, resulting in neighbors sharing peace, prosperity, and security.  Confirm in us that every mountain can move, if we are given a new measure of your Spirit.  We know that is not by might or by power but by the Spirit of the Lord Almighty that these things will happen.  Extend a new measuring line over our lives so new joy can be released.  We will not despise things that seem like small things, but look forward to the day when our King-Priest Jesus returns for his children.  In the powerful name of Christ we pray, Amen!

Depart from evil, and do good;
    seek peace, and pursue it.  (Psalm 34:14 NRSV)

Third Vision: The Man with a Measuring Line

2 [a] I looked up and saw a man with a measuring line in his hand. 2 Then I asked, “Where are you going?” He answered me, “To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length.” 3 Then the angel who talked with me came forward, and another angel came forward to meet him, 4 and said to him, “Run, say to that young man: Jerusalem shall be inhabited like villages without walls, because of the multitude of people and animals in it. 5 For I will be a wall of fire all around it, says the Lord, and I will be the glory within it.”

Interlude: An Appeal to the Exiles

6 Up, up! Flee from the land of the north, says the Lord; for I have spread you abroad like the four winds of heaven, says the Lord. 7 Up! Escape to Zion, you that live with daughter Babylon. 8 For thus said the Lord of hosts (after his glory[b] sent me) regarding the nations that plundered you: Truly, one who touches you touches the apple of my eye.[c] 9 See now, I am going to raise[d] my hand against them, and they shall become plunder for their own slaves. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me. 10 Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion! For lo, I will come and dwell in your midst, says the Lord. 11 Many nations shall join themselves to the Lord on that day, and shall be my people; and I will dwell in your midst. And you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. 12 The Lord will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem.

13 Be silent, all people, before the Lord; for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.

Fourth Vision: Joshua and Satan

3 Then he showed me the high priest Joshua standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan[e] standing at his right hand to accuse him. 2 And the Lord said to Satan,[f] “The Lord rebuke you, O Satan![g] The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this man a brand plucked from the fire?” 3 Now Joshua was dressed with filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. 4 The angel said to those who were standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes.” And to him he said, “See, I have taken your guilt away from you, and I will clothe you with festal apparel.” 5 And I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with the apparel; and the angel of the Lord was standing by.

6 Then the angel of the Lord assured Joshua, saying 7 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: If you will walk in my ways and keep my requirements, then you shall rule my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you the right of access among those who are standing here. 8 Now listen, Joshua, high priest, you and your colleagues who sit before you! For they are an omen of things to come: I am going to bring my servant the Branch. 9 For on the stone that I have set before Joshua, on a single stone with seven facets, I will engrave its inscription, says the Lord of hosts, and I will remove the guilt of this land in a single day. 10 On that day, says the Lord of hosts, you shall invite each other to come under your vine and fig tree.”

Fifth Vision: The Lampstand and Olive Trees

4 The angel who talked with me came again, and wakened me, as one is wakened from sleep. 2 He said to me, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see a lampstand all of gold, with a bowl on the top of it; there are seven lamps on it, with seven lips on each of the lamps that are on the top of it. 3 And by it there are two olive trees, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.” 4 I said to the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?” 5 Then the angel who talked with me answered me, “Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” 6 He said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord of hosts. 7 What are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain; and he shall bring out the top stone amid shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’”

8 Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 9 “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also complete it. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. 10 For whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel.

“These seven are the eyes of the Lord, which range through the whole earth.” 11 Then I said to him, “What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?” 12 And a second time I said to him, “What are these two branches of the olive trees, which pour out the oil[h] through the two golden pipes?” 13 He said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” 14 Then he said, “These are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.” (Zechariah 2-4 NRSV)

Idea from:  https://www.elijahlist.com/words/display_word_pf.html?ID=25704 

Some notes from:   NIV Study Bible (c) Zondervan, 2011

Day 5 - Intense Treatment - Deliverance from law of sin within my Holy Spirit-filled Temple

 Law-Giving God,

Thank you that, even though my body is the lowest part of my being, Holy Spirit has chosen to live within this Temple I received from God.  I am not my own, but was bought at a price and I am called to honor you with my body.  Thank you that I live in the tent of this body and will soon put it aside; my body is yours.  I do not offer any part of myself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but I offer myself to God as one who has been brought from death to life. I ask you to heal and cleanse the portions of my body that aren't working properly. I offer every part of my body/myself to you as an instrument of righteousness.  

Thank you that I am no longer in the realm of the flesh, bearing fruit for death, but I am released from the law so I serve in the new way of the Spirit and bear good fruit for God.  I know I do not want to sin; the law is holy, righteous, and good.  But the sin living within me does what I do not want to do.  In my inner being I delight in God's law, but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.  Deliver me through Jesus Christ, our Lord.  I declare that the pull of my old, sinful nature is eradicated, in Jesus's name. Amen!

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NIV)

I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. (2 Peter 1:13-14 NIV)

Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness,but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness...I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. (Romans 6:13,19 NIV)

4 So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. 5 For when we were in the realm of the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in us, so that we bore fruit for death. 6 But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.

7 What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful? Certainly not! Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8 But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead. 9 Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. 10 I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. 12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good. 

Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! Nevertheless, in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it used what is good to bring about my death, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.

14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!

So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

 (Romans 7:4-26 NIV)

Idea from:  https://www.elijahlist.com/words/display_word_pf.html?ID=25704 

Some notes from:   NIV Study Bible (c) Zondervan, 2011

Specks and logs, sin and grace

(This one's long, so the Prayer is first!)

For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”" (Gal. 5:13-14 NLT)


Perfect, Holy, and Awesome God in Three Persons,

Thank you for revealing yourself to us through Creation. Thank you for the beauty of your earth, its animals and plants, and we who are created in your Image. Thank you for not giving up on us in the Garden of Eden, at the Tower of Babel, during the Exodus, or a host of times since. Thank you for sending Jesus to show us the Way to the Father. Thank you for convicting us of our sin and drawing us into your arms of forgiveness and grace. Thank you for offering us the Abundant Life lived in relationship to You and for calling us to tell others about your Love.

Help your Church throughout the world to speak Truth into confusion and darkness, but to LOVE instead of singling out groups of people to condemn. Convict your children where we have been unloving, and give us great depth of mercy for the Lost. Help us to have mercy on those who are still trapped in their own choices to sin. Give us courage to LOVE people and show them Your More Excellent Way. In the redeeming name of Christ we pray...Amen.

****

After about 15 months of journalling through the Psalms, I finally ran out. One to 150 - all done. Now what? I want to better understand theology of salvation ("soteriology"), so I decided to start Paul's epic letter on that topic, Romans. At my current rate it will be another 15-18 months before I finish, but that's ok. I'm not trying to hurry through my reading, but instead I'm going verse by verse and just listening....listening to what the Word has to say...and writing down things that strike me.

Last night I was reading the end of Romans 1. Paul begins by expressing his initial greetings and desire to visit the people at Rome and share the Good News with them. Then he begins his explanation of sin with the idea that God has revealed himself - and, therefore, what is not of God - to people through Creation since the beginning of time. "So they have no excuse for not knowing God. Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused." (v. 20c, 21 NLT)

Whether you are a Christian or not, I would expect you can see a world that has become dark and confused. And to the Christian, it's obvious that sin has a great foothold in our world. Paul then spends a whole paragraph (in the NLT) to talk about the sin of homosexuality. For many ministries, pastors and churches, this is where their focus on this chapter lies. They spend lots of time and energy berating the practice of homosexuality. But Paul's chapter goes on beyond that...and I think there's a real message to that.

28 "Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. 29 Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. 30 They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents. 31 They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy. 32 They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too." (NLT)

While you could say the previous paragraph was directed at one group of people - those who choose to act on homosexual impulses - this paragraph paints a fuller picture of Paul's definition of sin. Here's the list:

wickedness
sin
greed
hate
envy
murder
quarreling
deception
malicious behavior
gossip
backstabbers
haters of God
insolent
proud
boastful
invent new ways of sinning
they disobey their parents
refuse to understand
break their promises
are heartless
have no mercy
know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway
encourage others to do them

While most of the world can avoid seeing itself in the "homosexual paragraph," I doubt any of us could avoid everything in this second paragraph's list. There's just too much juicy sin -- too much easy sin -- too much we might find hard to define ("What is deception in my specific situation, anyway?") -- too much that if done in secret we can kind of push under the rug ("That wasn't gossip, that was a prayer request!"). I may not be a hater of God, but I do struggle with envy. I may not have murdered, but I have quarrelled. You may also find yourself somewhere in the list.

Later on in Romans Paul says something very famous in Christian circles:
"...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (Rom. 3:23-24 NIV)

If Paul had stopped at the first part of that verse, we might as well just give up on this 'be-friends-with God' thing; there's no way sinful creatures like us could come anywhere close to a holy and perfect God. But just like Paul's definition of sin didn't end with homosexuality, his treatise on sin has a different ending -- GRACE. We can be justified by God's freely given grace when we believe in and accept the redemption that came from Christ Jesus. Whew!

So, that leads me to another question: why does today's Church spend so much time talking about and condemning homosexual choices, and not so much for this much wider net of potential sin? Is it because we find it easier to point fingers at a fairly small proportion of the population (less than 5% in U.S.) than recognizing our own sins? Is it easier to make a category ("sexual sins") worse than "regular sins", instead of realizing the ways we do not follow our Lord's command to "Love"? Isn't a sin a sin a sin a sin a sin? I think God sees sin in that manner - anything that is against God's will, anything that draws us away from God, anything that keeps us from loving God and each other - is sinful.

Some would say that there are varying degrees and depths of sin, and maybe there are: some sins certainly seem to harm many more people than do other sins. But, is that how God sees us? Does he see the sin of homosexuality as worse than murder or gossip or disobeying your parents? Or are we asking the wrong question. I think God sees all our sin - ALL of us - as needing to be saved from ourselves, our sinfulness, and brought to the Abundant Life in Christ. When we accept the gift of Grace and salvation through faith, God no longer sees us as sinful, but as Beloved Children of the King of Kings.

A few final words...

"We know, dear brothers and sisters, that God loves you and has chosen you to be his own people." (I Thes. 1:4 NLT)

"Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness." (Rom 6:12-13 NIV)

“And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye." (Matthew 7:3-5 NLT)

"For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”" (Gal. 5:13-14 NLT)