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Brothers, even if a man is caught in some fault, you who are spiritual must restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; looking to yourself so that you also aren't tempted. Galatians 6:1 WEB

We all make mistakes and not one of us down here has lived a perfect life except for Jesus. Yet we tend to compare our righteousness to others. Sometimes we feel like: 'Though we all fall short, I am still closer than them.' We all need Jesus because our own righteousness is as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). Maybe our rag is not quite as dirty as someone else's, but it is still a rag and not a wedding veil.

When a shark is injured in the wild, their own friends and family may turn on them. This is the way that sharks behave when there is blood in the water. A feeding frenzy takes place, and they devour them with their mouths.

Often when a Christian stumbles, the pack turns on them and starts ripping them to shreds by gossip. Somehow we feel better about ourselves by making them look bad. Maybe our righteousness is now bumped up to a 4 because we don't even do that, yet. That 'yet' word is the difficult part.

'But Jesus stooped down, and wrote on the ground with his finger. But when they continued asking him, he looked up and said to them, 'He who is without sin among you, let him throw the first stone at her.' Again he stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground. They, when they heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning from the oldest, even to the last' (John 8:6'9).

I find it interesting that when faced with condemning another of sin, the oldest left first. I once heard an elder at our church in his mid seventies say one morning, that everything that he had said that he would never do, he had gone back and done. As I get older, I can relate.

When I was young and cocky, knowing very little, I thought that I knew a lot. Then as life happened, I learned what you are really capable of doing when given the right set of circumstances. That sin that so easily besets us is always lurking right around the corner (Hebrews 12:1). It crouches outside your door seeking entrance into your life (Genesis 4:7). I believe that as you get older and your pile of sin gets even bigger, that you become a little more understanding when people fall. Thus the oldest left first.

Face it, we have all fallen short in the sin area, and it only takes one sin to be guilty of the whole law (James 2:10). Without the forgiveness provided through the Lord Jesus, we are all lost. Most of the time people do not need you to tell them that they have fallen, they already know that, and better than you. They need you to help them back up.

If you are down right now, know that the Lord Jesus died for you so that you may have eternal life and that the past can be wiped away with a simple prayer.

If you know someone today that has fallen, be kind to them. If the Lord has already forgiven them, who are we to point at their past. Help restore them, and in doing so, you may not have to walk a mile in their shoes.

Prayer: Heavenly Father I thank You so much for all that You do in my life. Help me see the lost and hurting through Your eyes. Fill me with Your compassion. Help me show mercy, as I have been shown mercy, in the name of Jesus Christ I pray.

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