People have the ability to see selectively and we all have our blind spots. So be careful if you find yourself behaving in a self-righteous way, when you are super critical of other people’s faults but blind to your own. In fact Jesus said to such people, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?” (Luke 6:41)

Jesus knew something very fundamental about people. It wasn’t just a nice theory about people, which he had. It is one thing to compare with other people and appear a saint, smell like a rose so to speak. But it is something totally different when you have to use absolute good and purity as a standard of comparison. And Jesus proved his point in a life and death situation.

The religious leaders of the day who had become corrupt and hypocritical deliberately set up a woman, caught her in adultery and brought her to Jesus. They wanted to trap Jesus who in their opinion was becoming a dangerous influence over the people. They thought they had Jesus between a rock and a hard place. It’s like tossing a coin and saying to Jesus, “Heads I win tails you lose”. And so they said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” If Jesus concurred, the evil men would have gotten the upper hand and if he let the woman go they would have a field day accusing him of being a heretic, of not upholding traditional beliefs. But Jesus knew very well that no one is without faults and so to the accusers Jesus said, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” And then slowly one by one the men left Jesus and the woman. (John Chapter 8).

Do you know how come we have this innate sense of rightness? It didn’t come out from nowhere! It is because the God who made is so good. And when God made us he made us in his image, and among other things, he gave us this deep-rooted sense of right and wrong.