Three Fingers Pointing Back to You 👈👈👈

Why we see the bad in others rather than ourself??

Where there is a mirror, we must look at it with new eyes....

Maybe you know the saying, "When you point one finger, there are three fingers pointing back to you."  Jesus had a version of this wisdom when he said, "Don't focus on the speck in your brother's eye while ignoring the log in your own eye."  When cruel accusations fly, we all need to hear the voice of reason that says, "Look in the mirror, mister.  You might just be talking about yourself."

Do not judge and criticize and condemn others, so that you may not be judged and criticized and condemned yourselves. For just as you judge and criticize and condemn others, you will be judged and criticized and condemned, and in accordance with the measure you [use to] deal out to others, it will be dealt out again to you.

— Matthew 7:1-2

I believe that pointing a finger at someone in judgment is often the way some people cover up their own weaknesses. Their theory seems to be, “Judge others before they have a chance to judge you.”

We all know what it's like to get caught up in the heat of the moment.  When we cannot bear to see something painful in ourselves, we want to get rid of it.  We want to relocate the ugliness we feel about ourselves and put it into someone else.   We say those bad feelings do not apply to us; they apply to someone else.

The fancy psychoanalytic term for this unconscious process is PROJECTIVE IDENTIFICATION.  We get rid of the unwanted feelings (projection) and identify them as belonging to someone else (identification).  I call it the "shame relocation plan."

Then let us no more criticize and blame and pass judgment on one another, but rather decide and endeavor never to put a stumbling block or an obstacle or a hindrance in the way of a brother.

-Romans 14:10, 12–13

Who are we? We’re God’s people. As Christians, we’re part of one family—God’s family. And He wants us to love and protect our family members, friends, etc. Instead of judging them.

Here is a prayer you can use to overcome judjment.

God, so often I’ve compared myself to others and judged them. I know that’s wrong. In the powerful name of Jesus Christ, I ask You to help me defeat every evil, judgmental thought that Satan throws at me.

AMEN!!!