No, we didn’t get our fingers shifted to the wrong keys on our keyboard, and this is not another new word. You have undoubtedly heard this proverb before, but just didn’t recognize it in one of its original forms. This phrase is presented in its ancient Greek form, “PHYSICIAN, HEAL THYSELF.” (Wiktionry.org.) You will recognize this saying in more colloquial terms like, “people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones”, or “the pot calling the kettle black.” Jesus was in his hometown and when in the synagogue there some questioned His declaration of Isaiah’s prophecy being fulfilled in Him (Luke 4:16-27). Perceiving what they were thinking, Jesus made reference to this proverb of the day, “PHYSICIAN, HEAL THYSELF.” Like Elijah and Elisha, Jesus could not do his work among his hometown folks. They wanted to see him not only heal himself, as though he must be sick to make such claims about His mission on earth, but to do healings that had been done in other areas. They wanted to see proof, but they were also declaring that “Charity begins at home.” (gotquestions.org.) We want to put maybe a slightly unusual spin on this last phrase, “Charity begins at home.” Let’s phrase it this way, “Love begins in you.”
If you’re a Biblical scholar, or even a novice at the Holy Scriptures, we are sure you would recognize the statement made by Jesus in Matthew 7:3-5, where He says, “And 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.” (biblehub.com.) We are sure all of us at one time or another saw flaws in others, while failing to recognize our own flaws, often much larger than the ones we were criticizing in others. Before we start criticizing others, maybe we need to be a little more introspective.
We like to believe that the vast majority of citizens within our Nation feel as though our Nation needs to be healed. Unfortunately, many look outward to others who need to be healed, forgetting that we ourselves need to be healed. Do you have any flaws that you need to tend to? That’s a rhetorical question, for if you claim you are perfect, then you are either the second perfect person to have ever walked on this earth, or you are delusional, and we would surmise the latter. All of us need “fixing”, and unfortunately some of the things broken in us will always leave imperfections and scars. There is only one way to fix in each one of us what is broken, and it is not done by our own strength or power. We believe the following scriptural text will provide some insight into how our healing can take place.
The Apostle Paul in his letter to those in and around the Ephesus area had this to say: “. . . while making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.“ (Ephesians 1:16-18, bold print added for emphasis.) It is hard to limit to a couple verses the expanse of Paul’s message in this book of Ephesians. But we believe what we have quoted above will help us focus on our part of seeing to the healing of our flaws. Understand that Paul was writing to an area of the world where Jews and Gentiles were believing together as Christians. The latter half of the book talks about unity and service, but without understanding the first half of the book if Ephesians, the latter can never be realized.
So, how can this healing happen? It starts by allowing God to give you the Spirit to open the eyes of your heart to recognize what God has done for us through Jesus Christ. When we have humbled ourselves to His grace and mercy, and when we view the world with the same attitudes Christ had (Philippians 2:5), then are we healed, then are we able to appreciate the FREEDOM and LIBERTY granted to us by our Creator. Do we heal ourselves? No. But we do need to access the source of the power to fix our flaws, and to then be able to help others seek healing as well. If you are upset, even mad and angered, at those within our government who seem to not care for our personal welfare, pray that they will seek God and the Spirit, and be given eyes in their hearts to see what the Lord has done for them, to be healed. If you want to heal our Nation, we must first allow the Lord to heal us.