Aug 7

“And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye,…” Matthew 7:3

By vivid and relevant illustration, Jesus teaches the importance of analysing ourselves ahead of attempting the judgement of others. The experience of having a speck in the eye is not uncommon to most of us. It is an irritant that impedes sight and makes the normal function of seeing difficult and painful. The illustration Jesus gives is logical as it is pertinent. There is nothing wrong with our willingness to help someone who may be afflicted by a small particle in the eye, if our own eyes are clear, functional and able to see. No one in their right mind would attempt to remove something so small from someone else’s eye if they were impaired themselves. Even more surely no one with a speck in their eye would allow someone with a serious impediment to go anywhere near their eye or attempt to help! The inference in this teaching of Jesus, is that the person who has an even bigger problem, that is a ‘beam’, literally a plank or lump of wood in his own eye, should even dare consider the splinter in someone else’s eye! This is at the core of the problem addressed by the Lord. All too often we become critical and begin to scrutinize someone else’s life and shortcomings. We find fault and criticize them, when in our own lives we have by far more serious problems and issues to resolve! The logical and wise direction from God, is to take care of our own difficulty, cleaning and cleansing our own life and vision, so that then we may be able to genuinely be of some assistance to someone else. How much easier and more useful we would all be if this simple, logical and Christ-like principle was followed in our lives. Through prayer, the careful reading of God’s Word, the sincere analysis of our own lives, and maybe the assistance of someone who has ‘clear vision’, we should first face, deal with and overcome our own spiritual impairments. Armed with the knowledge, love and humility learned in the process, we may then without hypocrisy or fear of doing damage, assist our precious brother or sister in their difficulty or challenge.

http://www.pentecostalfamilychurch.com.au/devotion