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SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS

And Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind." Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, "Are we blind also?" Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, 'We see.' Therefore your sin remains." —John 9:39–41 (NKJV)

Jesus is saying something here that we can't afford to miss: If you think you're OK . . . you're not. The human heart wants to believe that it has a reason to boast and that it's capable of being righteous all on its own. A self-righteous spirit will always separate us from God's presence, making it an idol in the truest sense.

Christ illustrated this in a parable of two men who went up to the temple to pray (Luke 18:9–14). One man was a Pharisee who was respected and revered by the Jewish community, the other, a despised tax collector. As the Pharisee stood in the temple, he thanked God that he was not like other men; extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. Then he bragged that he fasted twice a week and tithed all of his possessions. In marked contrast, the tax collector would not even dare to lift his head to heaven but beat his chest and cried, "God, be merciful to me a sinner!"

Outwardly, the Pharisee seemed to have his act together while the tax collector did not have a spiritual leg to stand on. However, internally, the Pharisee was bowing to the idol of self-righteousness while the tax collector was brokenbefore the true and living God. Jesus declared that it was the broken sinner who was accepted before God, not the self-righteous Pharisee.

Our human hearts want to play the part of the Pharisee. We like recognition for the good things that we do. Rather than finding ourselves separated from God by the idol of self-righteousness, we need to remember that we're saved only by God's grace and we have absolutely nothing to be self-righteous about.

DIG - What important lesson do we learn from the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector?

DISCOVER - What comes to your mind when you hear the term "self-righteous"?

DISPLAY - How will you prevent yourself from getting infected with a self-righteous attitude?