See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.
I have heard that little mantra my whole life and have seen the cute photos of people (and monkeys) with their hands over their eyes, ears and mouth – I always thought that was a great word picture.
Psalm 101 points out this truth and goes one further, reminding us to protect our hearts as well and avoid the evil of pride.
So often in life we can get caught up in the “evil moment” and find our eyes feasting on something we know good and well we should avoid. Or listening to coarse words we shouldn’t, which can quickly lead to participating in spewing evil words, gossip, complaining, murmuring – need I say more?
So many times after walking away from a conversation I replay the words that came out of my mouth and desperately wish there was a rewind and delete button.
If you can relate and have seen, heard and spoken evil then you dear friend are a victim of the human condition. However, if you have been disturbed by those actions you have the opportunity to admit your mistake, seek forgiveness from God and the person you had that evil moment with and move on – humbly seeking to do better.
That last issue that loomed out at me when I was reading Psalm 101 reminded me that the larger problem of pride can really be our downfall. Pride makes us not want to admit when we see, hear or speak evil. Our unchecked pride can cause us to stumble and spiral downward as we stubbornly refuse to admit wrong doing. Pride effectively gets in the way of us seeking restoration with God and our fellow man.
It is so hard to admit when we mess up, even when we know we messed up. There is a lot of brushing under the rug going on around here. I think there are lots of rugs hiding lots of evil that was not effectively held back by tightly gripped hands over eyes, ears, mouths and hearts – the only problem is it’s not really hidden.
The continual refusal to admit mistakes can ultimately build up so high under our rug that we become blinded by our own sin and are doomed to repeat mistakes over and over. We become buried under our rugs with our sin.
I have someone in my life who has always been a shining example in the ability to admit wrongdoing, place blame directly on himself and seek forgiveness from God and those he feels he has wronged. It is quite refreshing.
Since I come from a family of “it’s not my fault” speakers this learned habit of admitting my eyes, ears, mouth and heart get me into trouble had to be sought out and I admit, it took a lot of effort. A lot of doing business with the truth found in God’s word. I am also happy to report it is a major peace giver.
I am here to tell you that there is victory in recognizing wrong doing and admitting it.
Amazingly the more you practice admitting mistakes, you learn to catch yourself before the wrong doing occurs and your ability to see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil and avoid pride – the greatest evil of all – leads to more frequent victory.
What about you, do you wish you had the rewind/delete feature on your life? Is there someone right now you need to have a “please forgive me for my sin” discussion with, followed by a good admission of guilt to God?
I encourage you to take that step…on the road to long term recovery from “it’s not my fault” wrong thinking – it truly is a step towards freedom.
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