Verse: Matthew 7:3-5
Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?  4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?  5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

Devotion:
In today’s devotion, Jesus gives us a funny example about how we judge others much more severely than we judge ourselves.  We are looking at others, seeing a speck of a problem that they have.   Maybe they exaggerate when they tell stories, or they occasionally gossip about others.  We see this and feel that this problem should be removed, and we should be the one to remove it for them.  

Jesus then uses exaggeration himself to make his point saying that we have a plank in our own eyes.  He is saying that we judge even the smallest sin in others but ignore the major sins that we condone in ourselves.  

I used to get really upset with what I considered “bad drivers.”  You know what I am talking about.  They cut you off or they drive too slow or they drive too fast and tailgate you.  I finally came to my senses one day after a driver was tailgating me for so long that I slowed down to make them pass.  I shot some dirty looks their way when they passed me and then I realized that it was a friend of mine.  

It’s easy to think the worst of people we don’t know.  But I knew he wasn’t a bad person.  So now I try to think that the person rushing through traffic has an important place to get to.  I recognize more often when I accidentally cut someone off and give grace to those that do it to me.  This doesn’t always work but I am less angry while driving and more aware of my own driving habits.

Do you have an issue with judging others?  What problems set you off?  I have often felt that the issues that we see most often in others is also an issue in our own hearts.  Take some time today to reflect on this scripture and let the Holy Spirit bring to mind areas where we pick on other people’s specks and ignore the planks in our lives.  

Prayer
Dear Lord, help me to see where I am blind to issues in my life.  I want to be able to see you and others more clearly.  Bring any judgementalism to my awareness and help me to cast it out of my life. 

Author: Brad Dunn