Day 1

“If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” John 8:7

I've noticed something about myself over the past few months: I've become a cynic. I don't know if it's a natural consequence of my life, if it has something to do with New Jersey, or what. When I get in my car, I assume that people are cutting me off, purposefully speeding up so I can't get around them, and planning on running stop signs. I decide before I go in a door that no one is going to bother to open it for me, even if they're literally walking through it at exactly the same moment. I get annoyed at other people in public, because I just know they're going to talk too loud, say rude things, and just generally drive me crazy.

In some ways, this is probably good. One of the best ways to stay out of a car accident is to be cautious and assume other people are going to disobey the law. Being prepared to open the door for myself is just a good way to make sure I don't run into a closed one. Being prepared to be annoyed by something someone says or does helps me to block it out. But this isn't the way to live my life as a Christian. Jesus calls us to recognize our own faults before those of others several times throughout the gospels, whether in the above passage from John, when he talks about removing the stake in one's own eye before the speck in his friends', and reminding us to not by hypocrites.

I've decided to take on one or two of Jesus' principles each day, because I don't want to overwhelm myself. On this first day of my experiment, I'm focusing on treating others as I would like to be treated, regardless of how they treat me. Jesus did so--even in the story of this adulteress. Sure, people can be awful--they cut you off, they flip you off, they slam doors, they say horrible things, they have no idea how to act in public--but each one of them is God's creation. Each one has gifts, powers, and an amazing story of life. It's not my job to judge the world. It wasn't even Jesus' job: “As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it" (John 12:47). 

So far today, I've been paying attention to people's good qualities, and to their status as God's children. The real challenge comes tonight, because Wes and I are driving to a baseball game. Plenty of chances to remember that I have no right to cast the first stone.