As always, you can listen to me read this aloud, just by clicking ‘play’ above.^
The other day I had purchased a three pound package of ground beef and began dividing it up to freeze in one pound portions. The kitchen scale I use is a few decades old, but I’ve always assumed it to be reliable.
I eyeballed a handful of meat, put it in the bag, and weighed it—15.7 ounces. Perfect. Another bag, another handful—15.4 ounces.
And then I looked at what was left in the package and said to myself...there is no way that is a pound. Sure enough, it came out to ten ounces or so. I was so annoyed! ‘How could the store cheat me like that,’ I thought!
Then I weighed my first bags again ... and suddenly one weighed more than a pound. The other weighed 12 ounces. In fact, all three bags began reading differently.
Clearly, my scale was lying to me.
So I scribbled “Prov 11:1” on my bags, sealed them up and froze them anyway.
A false balance is abomination to the Lord but a just weight is his delight. —Proverbs 11:1
An abomination is something extremely disgusting, reprehensible, something to be rejected and refused.
In Bible times, scales or balances were used to weigh things in the marketplace, just the same as we use today. There is a presumption of integrity on the part of a shopkeeper.
He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he. —Deuteronomy 32:4
God is a God of truth. And a dishonest scale is something that He outright refuses. Before I go further, I want to make clear that the Lord God is righteous and holy. Before a person can be saved they must first see their true nature, as a sinner. I don’t intend to condone sin with anything that I’m about to say.
But as a saved child of God, I began to wonder, do I have false balances in my own life?
We understand this idea instinctively when it comes to the kitchen scale. We want accuracy. We assume honesty. We want to know what is actually there, not a fluctuating, unreliable number that changes moment to moment.
And what changes moment to moment in my heart?
My estimation of my worth.
I am by nature a very self-critical person. I put my life on the balances.
A small mistake can become like lead.A passing comment sticks to me and weighs me down.A doubt or a struggle becomes a verdict.
I place all my self-perceived faults on one side of the scale, and I do not stop them from outweighing everything else.
I justify my internal criticism.
I say I’m “maturing” because I can quickly recognize my pride, my impulsiveness, and my selfishness. I think of myself as “discerning.”
But all the discernment in the world is of no worth if I lay it on a false balance and allow my self-condemnation to weigh me down and burden my mind. Even the truth must be rightly measured, or it becomes distorted. Scrutiny can become heavy and exhausting.
In John 8, a woman was brought before Jesus. She was exposed, condemned, and surrounded by accusers ready to throw stones and deliver swift execution.
And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? —John 8:3-5
The men who brought her were not wrong. The command was clear. She who committed adultery must be put to death. There were no loopholes. No excuses. The law showed no mercy. They each gripped a stone, ready to hurl.
But what did the Lord Jesus Christ do? He ignored them and stooped down, writing on the ground. In the midst of their fury, He was calm. As they focused on the law, He brought grace.
For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.— John 1:17
Jesus said, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” As he continued writing on the ground, one by one, her accusers left. The tumult quieted. And suddenly, the woman who had been surrounded by punishing voices— stood alone.
[H]e said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more. —John 8:10, 11
He did not deny the truth of her sin, but he gave her something the law could never bring. He gave her mercy and grace. He refused to let her accusers have the final word.
I see myself in that passage. Not only as the woman, but as the one holding a stone. How often have I have dragged myself into the court of my own mind and railed accusations at myself?
“Why did you say that?”“What is wrong with you?”“You should know better by now.”
I have sat as judge, jury and executioner.
And I have an eager co-counsel.
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: — 1 Peter 5:8
Satan, the accuser of the brethren, is swift to bring to mind past sins and regrets. He is quick to point out my missteps, waiting at the ready to hale me into my courtroom of self-condemnation.
Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. — John 8:44
Satan is the father of lies. The king of the false balance.
He is very precise at measuring out what is lacking in me, but very careless when counting up what the Lord has given.
And when I take a real flaw and magnify it, giving it more weight than it deserves...When I ignore spiritual growth, or the steady work and grace of God...I’m unbalanced.
Likewise, if I look at someone else’s life and measure it against my own, I am unbalanced. On casual glance, we can’t see the full weight behind someone’s life. It isn’t accurate to just examine a polished, curated exterior without considering the heartaches, struggles, or burdens that come alongside it.
...a false balance is not good. —Proverbs 20:23
It sounds so simple, but so profound.
When our measurements are off, everything that follows will be wrong.
Our perspective.Our self-esteem.Our contentment.
So what do we do? We go back to what is true.
God’s Word is true and never changes.
For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven.—Psalm 119:89
And in His Word, I see the truth of who I am. Yes—I am a sinner. But there is also truth about God’s grace, and about forgiveness.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. — 1 John 1:9
And with that forgiveness, there is no more accusation.
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. — Romans 8:1
Those are just weights. Not the fluctuating measurement of my own emotions. Not my inner critic. Not Satan’s accusations.
God’s Word is true.
When I examine myself, at times it can be like my malfunctioning kitchen scale. The numbers never stay the same. One moment I feel confident, the next I feel like a failure. One comment can lift my spirits, and another sends me into a doom spiral.
False balances.
So when I find myself picking up stones again, rehearsing mistakes, condemning myself, I have to stop and ask:
Is this true? Or have I gone back to that broken scale?
I’d like to leave you with this verse:
O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely. —Song of Solomon 2:14
You are hid in Christ. He wants to hear your sweet voice, and see your beautiful face. He’s not looking down with a scowl, angry at every misstep. He sees you with compassion and love. He delights in truth. And His truth should leads us to repentance, forgiveness, and the reminder that God’s grace far outweighs the crushing weight of our own self-critic.
I pray this was an encouragement. Would you consider sharing it with a friend? If you’re new here, I publish weekly devotional thoughts for women. If you subscribe, they can be delivered right to your email. Thanks for reading.
