“But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”” (Luke 10:29NIV)
I used to have a friend that had a culture of engaging in baseless arguments with me. Initially, I did not take it to heart. But I later realised that it was becoming utterly unclean and dangerous. So, I asked her, “Why do you like to argue over matters that require no argument at all?” And in response, she said, “I cannot just accept that you are right and I am wrong. So, I have to first argue things with you, even if I will later admit that you are right.”
Now that, of course, made me end my friendship with her. That was because I just knew that we would at some point hurt ourselves, if we continued to be friends under such circumstances. How do you maintain friendship with someone that cannot admit it when they are wrong? How do you maintain friendship with someone that will always find a way to justify their wrongdoings? You will have to be a weak person to stay in friendship with that kind of person. And your weakness in this area will surely get you seriously wounded. It’s only a matter of time.
Well, the point I am trying to make is that if you are wrong in any matter, just admit it. Don’t try to justify or prove yourself to be right. That will be nothing but a show of pride. And if you continue in that path long enough, you will surely meet with disgrace or destruction (Prov 11:2 & 16:18).
For instance, in our opening text, we are told of an expert in the law of Moses that wanted to justify himself before Jesus by asking Him, “Who is my neigbhour?” This man, as the account shows us, had first asked the Lord about what he must do to inherit eternal life. And the Lord, in response, had led him to the things said in the law of Moses about loving God wholeheartedly and also loving our neighbours as we love ourselves. (Cf. Luke 10:26-28)
But instead for this man to simply accept those simple instructions and make up his mind to start acting on them, he proceeded to ask the Lord, “Who is my neighbour?” Why would he ask Him that kind of question? Did he really not know who a neighbour is? He did. But he wanted to give the Lord the impression that his reason for not loving his neighbour as himself was that he did not even know who he could call his neighbour. So, he asked him that stupid question.
In any case, because the Lord knew quite well what he was trying to do, He decided to lecture him a little about who his neighbour was by telling him a very instructive story, the story of the good Samaritan. And by the time He was done telling him the story, his foolishness had been exposed. So, he had nothing else to say but to walk away in disgrace. (Cf. Luke 10:30-37)
Now that is showing us that we can never succeed in justifying our wrongdoings before God and His truth. We may, through some acts of cleverness, oratory or stubbornness succeed in justifying our sins or errors before men. We may say it is because others are doing the wrong thing that we also are doing it or say it is because we are not hurting anybody that we are doing what is wrong. But it is only men that may accept such nonsense from us and not punish us. God will not accept it from us.
Yes, God can forgive anybody’s sins and also cleanse them of their unrighteousness, as long as the person admits them and seeks to be forgiven through Jesus Christ. But when people will not admit that they are wrong, when God has already said that they were, they will miss the forgiveness and cleansing that should have been theirs. And if they continue in that path of self-justification, it won’t be long before sudden disgrace or destruction comes on them, which they won’t be able to escape.
So, if it has been your culture to always want to appear right, you need to check yourself. You may do and say all that you can to always appear right. It does not mean that you are always right or that you are even right most of the time. It simply means you have a spirit of self-justification. And if you don’t rid yourself of it on time, it is not only precious relationships that it may cost you; it may also cost you God’s favour and mercy.
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