Article February 6, 1984 Issue

Love frees us from faultfinding

ANITA LEE CHANEY

Fleas had been making a feast out of my dogs and me. After a week of no relief from my uninvited guests, I was prompted to think about irritability. I realized I was still ruminating over a run-in I'd had with another individual.

In seeking healing for my interrupted peace of mind, I found that faultfinding, destructive criticism, and accusation were traits Christ Jesus expected us to overcome. He said: "Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again."^{Matt. 7:1, 2.} One modern translation of this command reads: "Don't criticise people, and you will not be criticised. For you will be judged by the way you criticise others, and the measure you give will be the measure you receive."^{J. B. Phillips, The New Testament in Modern English, rev. (New York: The Macmillan Co., 1972) .}

Jesus not only gave us this rule, he showed us how to obey it. When the Pharisees and scribes tried to trap him into condemning an adulterous woman to death, Jesus let them know that they were in no position to condemn another. He said, "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her." Sensing their own guilt, the crowd left. Looking around, Jesus said to her, "Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?" When she answered in the negative, he replied, "Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more."^{John 8:7, 10, 11.}

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