A young couple moved into a new neighborhood. The next morning while they were eating breakfast, the young woman noticed her neighbor hanging the wash outside.

"That laundry is not very clean," she said. "She doesn't know how to wash correctly. Perhaps she needs better laundry soap.”

Her husband looked on, but remained silent.

Every time her neighbor would hang her wash out to dry, the young woman would make the same comment.

About one month later, the woman was surprised to see a nice clean wash on the line and said to her husband, "Look, she has learned how to wash correctly. I wonder who taught her this?”

The husband said, "I got up early this morning and cleaned our windows.”

- Unknown

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And so it is with life. What we see when watching others depends on the purity of the window through which we look. The lesson from the window story is obvious…before we judge others while looking out the window, let us look in a mirror first and clean our own windows. Jesus taught about this in His Sermon on the Mount:

Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or, how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.  Matthew 7:1-5 NASB

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Don't fall Into the comparison trap. It is easy to become so preoccupied with what others are doing that we lose sight of God's leadings in our own life. 

Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else.  Galatians 6:4 NLT

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MORAL OF THE WINDOW STORY:   Our perspective of others as well as of the world varies according to how clean we keep our windows.

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If you liked this story and would like a copy of either of my books,
they are available on Amazon in both paperback and Kindle format:

If you have a story or testimony that you think might bless others,
I invite you to send it by email to me (Kenneth Kersey) at godsotherways@me.com.

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