These reflections, on recognising the ugly trait of self-righteousness in ourselves, are based on Matthew 23: 1–12.

‘Everything they do is done for people to see’ (v5)

Jesus exposed the self-righteousness of the religious leaders of His day. In that culture, such leaders were extremely respected and powerful. Sadly, it seems such power had gone to their heads and made them blind to their own faults. 

HEARTS FAR FROM GOD

Interestingly, Jesus wasn’t suggesting that people should ignore what the religious leaders were telling them to do. However, he did explain how the leaders’ own lives differed from the standards they set for others. They obeyed the letter of the law in order to look good, but their hearts were far from God.

Later on in the chapter Jesus spoke directly to them: ‘Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness’ (vv27–8).

CHOOSING HUMILITY

As we looked at in last week’s devotional, it can be hard to see the faults in ourselves. Jesus reminds us how vital it is to deal with them first, otherwise we can act like hypocrites. ‘You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.’ (Matt. 7:5) 

The key is in us being humble enough to admit that we all sin – and that, when we do, we can sometimes try to explain it away rather than confess the truth. Much of that is down to not wanting to look bad in front of others. When you consider that makes us like the Pharisees, self-righteousness is definitely something to fling off!

Prayer: Lord help me to recognise when I am falling into the trap of self-righteousness. I want to be humble enough to admit when I make mistakes. Amen.