Beth Moore's commisioning Sept 10 2011

A Deceived Generation
By Paul Chappell



Tuesday, Apr 30, 2013
There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness.

Proverbs 30:12

The Scottish poet Robert Burns’ best known verses is entitled To a Louse, On Seeing One on a Lady’s Bonnet at Church. In the poem Burns describes the audacity of the little creature crawling around with impunity on the fine bonnet worn by a high society matron to the service. The poem concludes with these lines (put in modern English from Burns’ original)

And would some Power the small gift give us
To see ourselves as others see us!
It would from many a blunder free us,
And foolish notion:
What airs in dress and gait would leave us,
And even devotion!

All of us are capable of thinking ourselves as being far better than we actually are. Studies show that people routinely over-estimate their skills, intelligence, and abilities in comparison to others. One study famously found that half of all men rated themselves in the top ten percent nationally in athletic ability!

Often we do not see problems in our own lives, although we can be quite skilled at detecting the problems of others. This tendency to judge others while giving ourselves a pass can lead to both a harsh spirit toward others and a tolerance of sin in our own lives. As the prophet Jeremiah reminds us, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 19:7). If we are depending on our ability to evaluate ourselves, we are heading for trouble. Instead we need an absolute standard of truth that is reliable against which we can measure ourselves. That standard is the Word of God. It is “a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). To properly judge ourselves we must truly be diligent students of the Bible and apply what we read to our lives.