Remove
the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck
from your brother's eye. Matthew 7:5
According to Jesus, it's a bad idea to major in "speckology" while suffering
from "plankitis." During His Sermon on the Mount, our Lord said, "Why do
you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own
eye?" (Matthew 7:3).
If speckology were listed in a university catalog, the course description might
read: "The identifying and criticizing of small shortcomings in the lives of everyone
around you. Very popular course; fills early."
Should plankitis appear in a medical dictionary, it might be identified this way:
"A disease that distorts self-perception and renders an individual incapable of
recognizing personal faults. Occurs worldwide."
According to our Lord, the solution is to "remove the plank from your own eye, and
then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye" (v.5).
It doesn't take a carpenter or an ophthalmologist to understand this metaphor of Jesus.
We've all enrolled in the course while suffering from the disease. But today, if we would
shift our focus from the specks we see in others to the planks in our own eyes, what a
difference it would make for us all!
-DCM
The faults I see in others' lives
Are often true of me;
So help me, Lord, to recognize
My own hypocrisy.
-Sper
Be quick to judge yourself but slow to judge others.