It’s interesting to me how karma is suddenly very popular — even among those who profess belief in Jesus. This is not about how karma and faith don’t mix. That will be for another post at another time. This is about how everyone who believes in karma always seems to believe in it for other people.

It’s always someone else who will get karma because of their bad behavior. Never me. I get a pass. I get grace. I get forgiveness. But that other person? Karma.

Even if I believed in karma, I’m pretty sure that’s not how it works. You don’t get to pick and choose who experiences the negative consequences of their actions and exclude yourself. If I want grace for me, I should probably extend it to others. You know, that whole thing about my forgiveness from God hinging on my forgiving others? That.

I believe when I point a finger at someone, there are four fingers pointed back at me. Maybe that’s why my grandmother told me never to point at anyone. But especially when I go to point out someone else’s sin or failures, I’d better make sure that I’m perfect. Or as Jesus said, I’d better make sure that I am without sin before I cast that first stone.

Maybe a better way is for me to be honest about my own sinfulness. For people to see Jesus in me, they don’t need to see me as perfect but forgiven. If I’m going through a struggle, I want someone who’s been there to talk to and to tell me about life on the other side. If people are looking to find peace and fulfillment, the best thing I can show them is not that I’ve got it all together and my life is perfect but that I fail and fall down but I have a Savior who can pick me up and forgive me and make me new.

Maybe the best way to show people how much they need Jesus is to own up to how much I need Jesus. Maybe the best way I can show people how to meet their need for Jesus is to spend the rest of my life running after Jesus the same way He ran after me when I was furthest away but needed Him the most.