Sermon Illustrations

Sometimes there things that I react so strongly to not because there is a tendency in me but because I have strong emotional connection to the issue. The biggest example for me personally is sexual abuse of children. My parents were social workers in the child welfare system and even though I was spared the details because of confidentiality, somehow I inherited a sensitivity to the issue. As a pastor, I have seen the lifelong scars. I have heard the anguish of its victims and honestly the perpetrators infuriate me. But I would not have discovered this about and why I react the way that I do without applying Jesus’ instructions here. Jesus is teaching his followers to do moral self-examinations.