Self-Righteousness

Today's devotional is from What Would Jesus Ask You Today?

"Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way?" - Luke 13:2.

In the context of today's verse, the Jews were trying to come up with a reason for a tragedy that had occurred, attempting to justify themselves as righteous while seeing the victims of the accident as worse sinners than they were. Jesus told them to mind their own business and look to themselves, warning them that if they did not repent, they too would perish as did those in the accident.

Later, Paul explained this simply when he wrote, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). Do you compare yourself to others as a means to establish your righteousness, feeling you're better than others in certain areas? Or perhaps you wonder about the spiritual condition of those to whom some unfortunately circumstances have occurred? You would be wise to read Luke 18:9-14 and learn to confront your own self-righteousness whenever it manifests.