Begin with two minutes of stillness and silence before God.
Have you ever thought you had things together? Maybe in a certain area of your life, you felt like the expert? One area I thought I had figured out was parenting. I know all the parents are already laughing at me. See, I thought I had parenting figured out BEFORE I was a parent. “Why don’t they just tell their kids to go to sleep?” or “They need to get their kids under control in this restaurant,” or “I sure would discipline that kid for that if they were mine!” I could go on and on, but you get the picture. When I became a parent, I was so quickly humbled. Humbled every day, really. The only thing that I know for sure about parenting is that no parent has everything figured out, but we sure try our best.
The me before kids was so much like the Pharisee in verses 9-14. I was arrogant, thinking I had it all figured out without experiencing parenting. Or for the Pharisee, arrogant without experiencing God’s mercy and grace. After having kids, I’m humbled by the experience of parenting and the daily trials it brings, like the tax collector who came to the temple humbled and experienced God’s mercy and grace. The tax collector went to the temple, recognizing his sin and begging for mercy. The Pharisee came to announce how good he was, but we who have experienced God’s grace know how sinful we all are, kind of like how we parents know that all those other parents are like us, just trying to figure it out. We’re all sinners, and when we try to justify our sins as “not as bad” as others or choose to judge others' sins, we become so much like the Pharisee: arrogant, prideful, and allowing that to cut us off from God and His blessing of mercy. When we approach Jesus like the tax collector, humbled and realizing our need for a Savior, we can fully experience God’s love, grace, and mercy.
Take two minutes to reflect in silence.