Pot, Kettle Black

Many of us justify our sins by comparing ourselves with other sinners who, in our eyes, are worse than ourselves.

Those looking from the outside explain this phenomenon by saying, “That is like the pot calling the kettle black!” In the end, BOTH the pot AND the kettle are black with soot! Soot is soot; sin is sin… no matter to what degree!

The illusion of “I am better than…” comes from using the wrong measuring stick to plot one’s progress on a flawed matrix graphic. Put another way, pots tend to compare by looking DOWN on the kettle. Meanwhile, the kettle is also looking DOWN to compare itself to the chamber pot at the bottom of the totem pole!

It is interesting to note that only very sincere souls are brave enough to look up! We all must learn the powerful secret of “Looking (up) unto Jesus…” (Hebrews 12:2).

The poster boy of the “Pot, Kettle Black” syndrome is the Pharisee in Luke 18:11 who PRAYED and told God: “I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.” It was as if God was doing him a favor by allowing him to be “better” than all of those underneath his feet!

When a person starts using the measuring stick of “At least I am not like…” they are just as “bad” as the person to whom they compare themselves! Just because “billy” did not physically have an adulterous affair with another person does not whitewash the virtual pornography that the “holier than thou” “joe” is watching! (Note: “billy” and “joe” are fictitious names, nothing more than that).

The “at least I am not like…” attitude has an identical twin brother called “I am holier than thou…” which is exemplified in Matthew 7 when “billy” rebukes “joe” saying, “You are a sinner; you have a mote in your eye" while all the time “joe” has an enormous beam that is blinding him to his vast sins.

Don’t go there! Don’t measure life in the wrong direction. If someone compares themselves downwards, that person will ALWAYS be “better”! When a soul measures the distance upwards, that soul will always discover there is still a long way to go to reach soul perfection!

While some sins are harder to redeem than others, sin is still sin. However, the power of the Blood of Jesus is absolute and unlimited UNLESS a person refuses to confess that they are a sinner or if they run off the rails into open rebellion against the Holy Ghost.

NEVER compare yourself to others! Use your Bible as a ruler to measure UP to Jesus!

Brad Lambeth​
​dyingempty.net​
JBLambeth@gmail.com