Beware of Self-Righteousness

 

  Lk 18:9-14

The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

⁹ To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: ¹⁰ “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹ The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. ¹² I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

¹³ “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

¹⁴ “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

How subtly can the "holier than thou attitude" attitude creep into our thinking and prayer. We look at our Lenten  program and pat ourselves on the back (maybe) and before long find ourselves not only self-complacent but even comparing ourselves to others. I would guess the Pharisee in the parable thought he was doing just fine in his spiritual life and saw nothing wrong in comparing himself to the tax collector. Not so, as Jesus points out.  May we take some time today to examine our attitudes in prayer and ask God to purify them if we find any traces of the Pharisee in them.

Dear God, help me to keep my prayer humble and sincere; extinguish  any pride that might have crept in. Amen.