"Who is righteous? Anyone who is repenting. No matter how bad he has been, if he is repenting, he is a righteous man. There is hope for him. And no matter how good he has been, if he is not repenting, he is a wicked man. The difference is which way you are facing. The man at the top of the stairs looking down is much worse off than the one at the bottom step facing up. The direction we are facing, that is repentance; and that is what determines whether or not we are good or bad.
I have been pondering and rereading this repeatedly and learning each time. I noticed that it is when we are on that bottom step, looking up that we are in a good place. Not just standing there at the bottom or nearby, thinking about it, we are on the ladder, climbing that ladder and looking up.
How often do we look from this "ladder", judging ourselves and others? I know I have found that sometimes I am at the top of the ladder and other times at the bottom. It seems to depend on my frame of mind, what circumstances I find myself in, what part of my make up I am examining.
I have been reminded of the statement that Stephen R. Covey made in a book (Spiritual Roots of Human Relations) he wrote years ago, that whenever we compare ourselves with others, our progress will stop. If we judge that the other person is better than we are, Satancan use it to discourage us and hold us back. If we judge that we are better than the other person, Satan will, again, use it to stop our progress because we are full of ourselves.
If we are at the "top" of the ladder, and looking "down" we will feel like we have arrived and our progress will halt, we will cease to see where we still need to repent. With our backs to the ladder, we will miss all the rungs continuing up. As long as we have taken that first step, are looking up to our Savior and continue to climb, we will be humble, teachable and making progress.
It has made me appreciate the gospel more than ever. It's clear, concise, in loving black and white. No questionable gray areas to make it difficult.
4 comments:
I love the quotes you've used. I'm going to copy them and put them up to read over and over again!
Great post. I love that quote--it is one worth printing out to read over and over again for sure. I really like what Covey had to say about comparing too, it is another good motivation to remember not to do that!
I have been thinking how I am all over that ladder, up down and turned all around! And it is the simplest of things like prayer that keep you looking in the right direction, yet we try to complicate it all.
thanks Sharron!
Thanks for that post I really needed to read both of those quotes! However I do get tired of being on that ladder...at the bottom...and having other trample over the top of me to get ahead. That's when the "Do Not Judge" quote needs to kick in! Thanks again.
Very inspiring quotes. I will copy them for myself so I can read them frequently. Thanks for sharing.
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