That's Easy For You to Say

“Oh come on,” I said to my Dad as we played a dice game called 10,00 “the risk is worth it!  What do you have to loose, you’re so far behind anyways.”  He listened to me, rolled the dice again and lost it all.  I felt bad.

Now it was my turn.  I rolled and planned to stop, take my points and run, that is until I heard my Dad echoing my words, “What have you got to loose you’re so far bind anyways, go for it!”  Instinct said don’t be crazy stay with the safe choice! I blurted out, “I want to stay with the points that I’ve got, but than I guess that would make me a HYPOCRITE since I just convinced Dad to risk it all.”  Every one expected me to stay but instead I rolled, not out of the thrill of the gamble, but out of a need to practice what I preached.  I couldn’t believe my eyes, I didn’t loose it all!  I had just accumulated even more points!  I laughed almost uncontrollably at this ironic out come.  And everyone else laughed, gasped and looked on in shock.  I had just beat the odds!

When it comes to life it seems that everyone can tell you how to live yours.  They’re just chocked full of advice, but most of these pushy advisers seem to be full of talk and empty when it comes to application.  Because of the work that I do I've been seeing the same example repeating its self.  I happen to have a cleaning busyness that has been doing pretty good lately and one type of job I’ve been getting more often is to clean homes before people move in.  It really is amazing how people can get so used to their own grime that they don’t even notice it, but put a stranger in that same environment and there are gasps of shock at how anyone can live like that.  Yet, take that same person who goes on and on over the filth of the previous dwellers into their current home and you often find the same erosion of time and grime having it’s affect in their space.  

Some how this seems funny to me and it made me think that this is also how people look at others as they judge them.  We seem to be able to see someone's problems so much easier from the outside looking in because we have a fresh perspective and we haven’t become accustomed to the over all neglect of personal wisdom in life choices.  Yet we don’t manage to see our own problems…phrases like “Those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.” and “They can’t see the forest for the trees”, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?” come to mind. 

So what’s to be done, do we stop giving someone the advice that might save them from heart ache because we really have no right to be giving them a tip on life that we ourselves haven’t applied?  Will they listen to us? 

Luke 6:39-42 He also told them this parable: "Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit?  A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.  "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?  How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

If you want to change/help others you must first change yourself.  If you want to be heard, make sure you’re living life in such a way that people are ASKING you for what you think in how to handle a certain situation.  Live life in wisdom and people who are in need of some guidance are more likely to want to hear what you have to say.