The gate is narrow, Lord, and our habits of judgment run deep. “She shouldn’t have spoken so sharply with the store clerk.” “He shouldn’t have driven through the crosswalk when someone was trying to cross the street.” You can add your own quick judgments. But to live a life according to the righteousness teachings of Jesus, we must first look closely at the quality of our own thoughts, words, and actions before we venture criticism of others. Often that means that we have to do the hard work of learning to have compassion for the ways that we fall short of the person we truly want to be. Only then can we look with genuine eyes of compassion on the shortcomings of our fellows.
Show us the road that leads to learning how to have compassion for ourselves despite our growing edges, Lord, so that we might feel more compassion for others.
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