Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and look, 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! Matthew 7:4-5
From an early age, pointing out flaws in others comes naturally. A toddler can quickly point out who hit them, and a child has no problem proclaiming, “She started it!” Even as early as the garden of Eden, this type of response took place. As soon as they stood before God after sinning against Him, Adam and Eve quickly pointed out the fault in each other. Usually, this is a defense mechanism. Logic says, “If someone else’s sin is worse than mine, maybe I will get a lighter consequence.” Yet, even in this attempt to defend, we still hurt ourselves. With each passing judgment toward others, we warp our sense of reality. Jesus says, “Look, the log is in your own eye!” While this may seem obvious, we are often so caught up with the flaw of someone else that we do not slow down to even consider how our own vision is skewed.
Jesus’s call gives us a clear way forward. Instead of quickly pointing out flaws in others as is natural, we need to do some soul searching of our own. We need to consider our own hearts when we are quick to act on our anger instead of surrendering to God. When we grow in awareness of our own sin, it not only opens our eyes to what is broken in us, but it also points us to our Savior, who can heal and restore us as we come to Him.
- When have you recently felt inclined to point out the flaws in someone else? What did you do? How did that impact your relationship with them?
- What does it look like to slow down and evaluate the sin in your own heart? How can you make this a regular practice in your life?
- Pray and ask God to show you where you have been blind to your own sin.
