"So if you think you are standing, watch out that you do not fall."

Those words from 1 Corinthians are part of what inspired today's installment of Our Daily Bread.

Both the Scripture passages on which it's based and the piece by David C. McCasland are worth reading, pondering, and praying about.

One of the primary temptations the devil, the world, and our sinful selves hold out to us is this notion that whatever goodness we may thing we possess is intrinsic to our own natures and personalities. But my observation is that the moment we think we're righteous, we're in deep trouble. No one is more prone to undertaking a whole passel of rotten thoughts and entertaining more poisonous thoughts than those who think themselves constitutionally incapable of wrongdoing.

Hitler never second-guessed himself. Saint Paul did.

Jesus had some interesting things to say along these lines:

“Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. ²For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. ³Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? ⁴Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is in your own eye? ⁵You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye." (Matthew 7:1-5)

Do those words make you feel a bit uncomfortable? Me too. Especially when I consider the enormous logs of sin I've often gathered in my own eyes, even in the three-decades-plus that I've tried to follow Jesus. "So if you think you are standing, watch out that you do not fall."

40-Days to Servanthood: Day 26

After they forgive, servants strive to forget.

Love, Paul writes in the New Testament, “doesn't keep score of the sins of others” (First Corinthians 13:5, The Message).

Servants of God try to be as forgetful of the hurts inflicted on them by others as God is of the hurts they’ve inflicted on God. The power to forgive and to forget comes from Jesus Christ. But only those who decide that they want to forgive and forget will be given that power, which in turn translates into what the Bible calls a “fruitful” life of servanthood.

Clara Barton, the founder of the Red Cross, knew this. It’s hard to believe that the person behind such a benign organization had her detractors, but she did. Once, on a tour, a woman who had treated Barton particularly unkindly sent word that she would like to have dinner with her. The aide with whom Barton was traveling was mystified at how readily Barton agreed to the dinner. She reminded Barton of the woman’s vicious misdeed toward her. But the Red Cross founder seemed not to recall it. “Don’t you remember?” the aide asked. “No,” Barton replied, “I specifically remember forgetting it.”

Forgetting doesn’t mean that we’re heedless of our past experiences with people. An abused wife shouldn’t give her abusive husband more opportunities to do her harm, for example.

A man I know has lashed out at me many times. I’ve decided that the interaction of our personalities is like a meeting between gas and fire. We can’t be friends. To that extent, I remember our past experiences together. But whenever I see him these days, I’m always friendly and courteous. Often, I even enjoy his company. God helps me to forgive and forget and so be freed for Christian servanthood.

Chuck Swindoll says that “forgetting” sins perpetrated against us has three elements: refusing to keep score (First Corinthians 13:5); being bigger than any offense (Psalm 119:165); and harboring no judgmental attitude (Matthew 7:1-5).

After they forgive, servants strive to forget.

Bible Passage to Ponder: Love “doesn't keep score of the sins of others” (First Corinthians 13:5, The Message).