Matthew 7:3-5 Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? 5 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.
After Christ shows the ridiculousness of our sinful desires to focus on others’ specks while ignoring our logs, He then bluntly teaches that it is simply hypocritical. For you to give advice on eye cleaning, while your own eye needs ways more attention than your friend’s is hypocritical. You are acting the expert while failing to see your own desperate need. How proud we are when we focus on pointing out others’ sins and shortcomings, while refusing to admit our sin. In our pride, we are sure the other person’s speck of sin demands all of our attention and that our own log is nothing significant.
Even in situations where the other person’s sin truly is more grievous than our own, Jesus still calls us to confess and repent of our sin first. There is certainly the place for Matthew 18:15 confrontation in love, but Jesus plainly teaches here that confrontation must not come before authentically dealing with our own sin. The Lord promises forgiveness and blessing in confessing our sins, for that path honors Him rather than deceiving ourselves and trying to deceive the Lord and others about our true sin nature (Psalm 32:2,5). There is healing and growth when we sincerely tackle the log in our own eye and walk in humble repentance.
What issues in your life have you been avoiding or overlooking? Are you distracting yourself from handling your own sin by pointing out specks in others’ eyes? How often do you find yourself openly confessing sin to the Lord, and then seeking His help to turn from that to righteousness Before confronting someone on their sin or pointing to them as the main problem, do you stop to examine yourself for personal sin? ? Our pride can blind us from rightly seeing our own sin. What trusted friend or mentor can you ask to help you identify the logs in your eye you’ve been ignoring?
