Justifying myself

‘The next day he took two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. “Take care of him,” he told the innkeeper, “and when I come back this way, I will pay you whatever else you spend on him.”‘
And Jesus concluded, ‘In your opinion which one of these three acted like a neighbour towards the man attacked by the robbers?”
The teacher of the Law answered, ‘The one who was kind to him.’
Jesus replied, ‘You go, then, and do the same.’   (verses 35-37)

Read Luke 10:25-37

My reaction to seeing a homeless person on the street is not always to help. Instead I think of all the good reasons why I shouldn’t go out of my way to help. Like that teacher of the law I want to justify myself for not helping everyone.

I grew up thinking that people would forgive me as long as I could justify my actions. If I found $5 I’d think, ‘I could hand it in to the lost property department … but it’s not really worth much, so no-one would come and look for it … oh well, finders keepers.’ With a little practice I could excuse all my selfish behaviour. I’ve even gone so far as to say, ‘What do you expect of me, God? You know I’m sinful and can’t help myself’. Which is like saying, ‘The Devil made me do it’.

You are not justified by being sinful, nor are you justified by your own clever arguments so don’t even try. If you do, you may not recognise that you need God, who justifies you by his grace.

Lord, thank you for your grace. Please forgive my sins and help me to forgive those who sin against me. Amen.

by Jorg Ernst in ‘Renewed Hope for each Day’ (LCA, Openbook, 2000)

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