Paint

 

I have been painting my living room, dining room, kitchen and front bathroom.  It’s looking better each day, but still, not quite finished.  And, true to form, last Wednesday afternoon, I tried to do too much, cutting in a door just before prayer meeting.  I hastily showered and dressed, and we were just on time for church.  But later that evening back at home, as I was getting ready for bed brushing my teeth and looking in the mirror, I noticed paint on the back of my hand (the part of my hand that I never see).  When I put away my toothbrush, I scrubbed my hand and cleaned off the paint.  But wait … I had led the music at church that evening, waiving my paint splattered hand at the congregation!  No one had said anything about the paint to me.  Either they hadn’t seen it, or they were kind, saying, “Poor Brother Gerald.  He didn’t have time to clean up before church.”  Hey, how often in life do we have shortcomings in our personal life that we don’t see.  Others may see our faults, but we just don’t notice them.  Paul said in Galatians 6:1, “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.”  When we notice shortcomings in a friend’s life, we should kindly confront them.  They may not have noticed the growing bad habit.  We should hold one another accountable.  We should give and take criticism humbly.  Don’t gossip about a brother’s faults; go directly to him and speak to him about them.  Hey, we all have bad habits that we don’t notice.  Let’s help one another overcome them “in the spirit of meekness.”