WHEN SILENCE IS GOLDEN

Luke 6:37-42

There is one lawyer-giver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?

The 17^th-century French churchman Fenelon said "It is often our own imperfection which makes us reprove the imperfection of others; a sharp-sighted self-love of our own which cannot pardon the self-love of others." Sometimes our own faults and imperfections make us see faults in others that don’t even exist. A woman complained that her neighbor’s windows were always dirty. One day a visitor encouraged her to wash her own windows. She followed the advice, and exclaimed, "I can’t believe it. As soon as I washed my windows, my neighbor must have cleaned hers too. Look at them shine."

Criticism blinds us to the good that others accomplish. A man who built a large drinking fountain in a public square drew derogatory comments from an art critic about its design, was doing its job—and doing it well. Instead of calling attention to others' imperfections, we should examine ourselves. And instead of judging others, we should look for the good in them and love them in spite of their faults.

Words of criticism, words of anger, words of rumor spread so fast words of hatred ripple onward till they hit their mark at last.