SHORTCOMINGS
PROVERBS 16:18 (MSG)
First pride, then the crash—
the bigger the ego, the harder the fall.
LUKE 6:41 (MSG)
It’s easy to see a smudge on your neighbor’s face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own.
SUMMARY SENTENCE
When we focus on the shortcomings of others we're setting ourselves up to crash and burn.
PRAYER
Lord, you have graciously given us the gift of observation and discernment. But we take things too far when we start measuring others against ourselves. I make my own life the gold standard by which others have to live. Grant me the additional gift of humility so that I can kindly give a hand to those who need a lift up. I'm going to measure everything and everyone according to your standard of grace. Amen.
*ABOUT THE
DAILY TEXTS
The Daily Texts have been published by the Moravian Church since 1731. In 2011 I started posting these Bible verses for my spiritual formation students at Pacific Islands University. In the process of responding to the verses, I found the rhythm of looking for a common thread and writing a prayer based on that key idea to be helpful for my own soul. The prayers are more or less modeled on the TRIP method, which is what I ask my students to do in their journaling. ~ Brad Boydston
TRANSLATIONS
ABP = Authorized Boydston Paraphrase -- a freestyle biblical adaptation -- somewhere between paraphrase, commentary, and sermon
CEB = Common English Bible (©2011, the Common English Bible)
CEV = Contemporary English Version (©1995, American Bible Society)
MSG = The Message (©1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson)
NIRV = New International Reader's Version (©1996, 1998, Biblica)
NIV = New International Version (©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011, Biblica)
NLT = New Living Translation (©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, Tyndale House Foundation)
