You are the man!
—2 Samuel 12:7
David was livid. Nathan had just told him about the despicable act of a rich rancher. Instead of butchering one of his hundreds of head of livestock, when it came time to set the table for a visiting friend he climbed the fence and stole the only lamb of his dirt-poor neighbor. “The man who did this deserves to die!” David roared.
“You are the man!” said Nathan. David had it all—prestige, power, possessions. In a sleazy, self-indulgent move he stole the wife of one of his most loyal soldiers.
The flaws and sins of others are apparent and awful. Ours, not so much: often unrecognized, and if recognized easily justified. “Know thyself,” wrote Socrates. Forget about that speck of sawdust in what’s-her-name’s eye until you’ve done something about that two-by-four in your own.
If you feel you have no faults,
right there is a big one.