refining and improving.

i was listening to k-love on the way home from work a couple days ago. they were talking about the manicure that kelly osbourne got for the emmy's. a manicure normally wouldn't be deemed as newsworthy, but it was how much the polish on her nails was worth: $250,000.

a quarter of a million dollars on ten fingernails.

one of the dj's had the same initial reaction i had: there are children who will go hungry tonight, families who need medical care, and people living in cardboard boxes on the street. that money could go a long way.

but what she said next is what really opened my eyes:
we could list all the ways that money could be better spent.
but instead of berating her, why not look at our own lives and find ways to improve ourselves?

it was like God was speaking right at me.

instead of focusing on the faults, choices, and shortcomings of others, why not channel that criticism toward our own lives?
in this case, look at our spending habits. in other cases, our words, actions, etc.
i'm reminded of one of my favorite quotes:

let the refining and improving of your own life keep you so busy that you have little time to criticize others.
[h. jackson brown, jr.]

it's easy to criticize others and voice our outrage against their faults, but are we guilty of that same thing, even if it's on a smaller scale? there's no such thing as big sin and small sin. sin is sin.

i started using a program to break down my spending month by month. i was stunned and slightly embarrassed by how much i have spent this year on things that have absolutely no worth. nail polish, clothes, coffee. do i really need those things? i can't take them with me when i go. just because you have the money for it doesn't mean you need to go blow it on useless items that distract your focus from the Lord.

maybe for some, it's their spending. others, it could be the words they say or their actions.
my point is: before we go into a rant about so-and-so, why not take a moment to reflect on our own self?
what can we improve?

the way God uses simple everyday tasks to teach me and mold me into who He wants me to be humbles me.