Matthew 7:4

New International Version (NIV)

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?

For Meditation

It never ceases to amaze me why, in Ghana, people pay to buy lottery numbers from those so called lottery magicians. They always have complicated calculations to convincingly prove their point. The greedy listener is carried away into the dream world where they see the jackpot with the winning ticket in their hands. It’s all a sham and the biggest loser is the buyer of the promised winning numbers. My question is, if the lottery magician knows the winning numbers, why wouldn’t he just put all his money on them to become a millionaire? It’s a case of the scantily-clothed person promising somebody a piece of cloth.

Jesus gave a similar but exaggerated situation of a person with a plank in his own eye offering to remove a speck of sawdust from another person’s eye (Matt. 7:3-5). It is so absurd that it is almost unbelievable; but it does happen in practice every day. It is said that the most ardent critic of a person is likely the worst offender in that same area. People judge others without paying attention to their own condition. They delight in pointing at the short comings of others, but refuse to admit culpability in that same offense or shortcoming. David tried that once, and the Lord lowered the hammer on him: “You are the man!” (2 Sam. 12:5-7).

 Jesus had a sharp rebuke for such people. “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” (5).

Hypocrites enjoy bringing other people down and shattering their self-image. It makes them stand tall and highly decorated. The Pharisees specialized in this art and loved it. They built their image on their hypocritical acts and the Lord sharply condemned them (Lk. 11:39-44). Sadly, many modern day Pharisees abound in the church today, and they make other people’s lives miserable.

1. Have you been touched by a modern day Pharisee?
2. How did you feel?
3. Does that make you cautious in judging others?
4. Have you checked lately to see if you may have become a bug in somebody’s clothes; maybe your spouse or coworker?
5. Can you honestly apologize to that person and help them find their confidence?

I pray we all turn the searchlight on ourselves and allow the Lord to show us somethings we never imagined to be in our lives.

So: May the Lord set you free from the judgmental attitude of that person in your life; and may you be careful you don’t do the same to others.

With the same measure we use to judge others, it will be measured to us (Matt. 7:2).

Shalom