“A person should not attach too much importance to the faults of others if he wants God to overlook his own faults with mercy” (John Tauler).
Certainly we notice the faults of others and, if it is in our power, it would be good to help them to overcome them by our example and advice. But the tendency to talk at length and in detail about the faults of others, to publicly point them out, and to keep stressing them, has nothing to do with this attitude. It is as if you were holding the other person captive to his error, and you can hardly escape the danger of pride yourself.
How will our Heavenly Father view this attitude?
As soon as we seriously ask ourselves this question, we will immediately realise that such an attitude cannot stand before the Lord. Would we want the Lord to keep throwing our faults in our faces? For the sake of our humility, it is sometimes good to be reminded of them, especially in order not to feel superior and to treat others with more mercy and clemency. In this sense, remembering our past or present mistakes can serve a higher purpose. But that is not what we are talking about here.
We certainly don’t want our Father to ‘give us an account’ of everything we do wrong and constantly accuse us. Our Father is not like that! Thank God!
John Tauler exhorts us to keep this in mind and not to place too much importance on the faults of others. We should imitate God’s attitude and be merciful to others as our Father is merciful to us. Then we can trust that He will be generous in the face of our faults.
What a liberating vision and blessing God has given us for living with people!