Whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles
at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.
—James 2:10
There’s a good chance that you know a churchgoing man who makes his home hell by his tyrannical and abusive behavior. Is he any more righteous than the thief who steals your car?
Is the misery caused by the thugs in your hometown any greater than that caused by the coldness, cruelty, badgering, whining, and self-centeredness inside the walls of some so-called Christian homes?
The boozer who’s too fond of his bourbon is fair game for the teetotaler. But does he inflict any more damage than the abstainer who breaks hearts and destroys reputations with her vitriolic tongue?
Churches have rarely been destroyed by murder or adultery, but have often been reduced to shambles by contentiousness, gossip, and slander.
We judge others by their worst behavior;
and ourselves by our best.