"Do ye suppose that God will look upon you as guiltless while ye sit still and behold these things? Behold I say unto you, Nay. Now I would that ye should remember that God has said that the inward vessel shall be cleansed first, and then shall the outer vessel be cleansed also."
In this scripture, Moroni is lecturing Pahoran about his lack of support for the armies. While he is referring to the government as the inward vessel and the attacking Lamanites as the outer vessel, his words can apply to individuals as well. When I was reading this verse, I thought about those of us who are so quick to find fault in others but can't see it in ourselves--the whole let me pull the mote out of your eye without first removing the beam from mine scenario. It's great to see others' struggles and to want to help them overcome them, but you can't really help others unless you've dealt with any issues you have in your own life. And we definitely shouldn't find pleasure in others' struggles as Moroni feared the government was doing to the armies.
Where do we begin to cleanse the inner vessel? I suppose it starts by looking inward. When we find ourselves judging others, we should ask ourselves if maybe we have a problem with this as well. As we consistently turn our thoughts back upon ourselves, we will criticize those around us less and be more aware of our own shortcomings--those things we need to cleanse.
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