When people learn that I’m already well on the way to memorizing  the ENTIRE BIBLE and have dedicated the rest of my life and all of my life savings to this, many (mistakenly) make the assumption that I’m some sort of super-saint.  Nothing could be further from the facts because the truth is that the more I memorize Scripture, the more I see, the more I realize just how sinful  I am and have been.  Thankfully it doesn’t stop  there.  Rather, it proceeds to erode and eradicate each sin which comes into view… ping, ping, ping.  Like cans set up by a sharpshooting prodigy with a new BB gun.

But then it proceeds to reveal MORE things in my life which aren’t in line with Scripture, but flips that script, too, and “performs its work” (1 Thessalonians 2:13) in “transforming us into the image of the Lord” (2 Corinthians 3:18).  And on and on it goes.  This process won’t end on this side of eternity.  The Bible is so amazing:  it not only identifies but also eradicates the sin in our lives.

Anyway, I understand why so many come to that conclusion and I have to confess that every once in a while I find myself turning my gaze from my own sin, sins, sinning, sinfulness and onto things exhibited in the lives of others, but before letting that linger for long I’m reminded of a passage in the Bible which I first read when I was a child and it has always stuck with me.

It’s in the last chapter of one of my “favorite” books:  John 21:22.  It’s very well-known, I’m sure you’d heard and/or read it many times.  It’s the third time that Jesus manifested Himself after His resurrection.  He’s eating with the disciples and afterward asks Peter – three times, much to the latter’s chagrin (perhaps due to the repetition [like when someone asks YOU the SAME THING multiple times] or the fact that it reminded him of the equal number of times he denied knowing Jesus on the night of His crucifixion) – if he loves Him, and Peter affirms that he does, and Jesus tells him to shepherd His sheep.  Peter then starts asking Jesus about John and the Lord basically tells him to “forget about the other guy” because when it comes to sin (in that case, specifically about betraying Christ) or who’s doing what or how much to further the kingdom of heaven, it’s not about others, it’s about YOU!

For years now, whenever I see something in someone else that doesn’t seem right, I don’t even let my mind “go there” and instead automatically turn it right back to focusing on how much I’VE sinned and how much room for growth and improvement there is in MY life… and it absolutely revolutionized it.  A much happier path to walk along in life.  When it comes to praise, focus on others.  When it comes to a need for improvement or growth, focus on yourself.  It’s not just far more joyful but effective and productive.
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