Nope, Not All The Answers Here

"Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ." Ephesians 4:15

"Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins." 1 Peter 4:8

Do you ever feel like that? Feel like you are all-knowing and have all the answers for everything? You talk to someone and they tell you about some problems they are having, and you think to yourself "don't they see what the problem is?" Or someone sits down near you in a movie theater with six kids, and first you're thinking "Six kids! What were they thinking!" and shortly after that you're thinking "don't these parents teach their kids to behave in a public setting? They need to be taught some manners!" That is called self-righteousness, and it is something that we need to stay away from.

The truth is we don't have all the answers, and sometimes, maybe what that other person actually needs is some compassion and some love. I think of a person who is insanely busy. They are always running around, doing this and doing that, and it would be easy to think to myself that they need to simply slow down and life would be better. But when that person is telling me about how crazy life is, they're not telling me that so that I can criticize them. They're telling me that because maybe they would just like an extra prayer or two in their direction. Rather than criticizing, I should offer what I can to help. Maybe it is just adding them to my prayer time. But maybe I could make them dinner one night and save them the hassle. Or maybe there is something they are involved in that I could help out with. Self-righteousness does nothing good for anyone.

I like this verse from 1 Corinthians 13 in the King James Version, charity is another word for love.

"Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up," 1 Corinthians 13:4

Charity is not puffed up. Love is not puffed up, it is not proud, nor is it self-righteous. It's time to shed those moments of self-righteousness and take a good hard look at what it means to love someone. Love means you help someone else without grumbling- and sometimes with no questions asked. Love means that you offer your support and your prayers- love does not think smugly to themselves that they could do better.

It's time to let the love shine and put away the self-righteousness.