“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? 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.
“Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you. Matthew 7:1-6
This morning, I brought two of my 4 sons to the office with me to relieve their mother and give her a somewhat quiet morning. The two youngest stayed home, our newly turned 4 year old was asleep, and the other was content to just sit on the couch and contemplate what almost 6 year olds think about. As I was reading yesterday's devotion, My oldest two (9 and 7) were supposed to be reading on the couch. My oldest looks to his 7 year old brother and says "You're not reading, you're just flipping through pages in your book" all the while not reading anything himself (in fact, he was just laying down on the couch). We used today's verse to talk about pointing out someone else's problems while avoiding your own, and laughed in amazement at how the Holy Spirit works through the Word!
While thinking about all of this, I got to thinking about today's cultural climate. So many people are pointing fingers at everyone else. Everyone, it seems, is angrily shouting one another down instead of listening. What is more, when someone tries to calm the emotion of the day, they're shouted down, beaten down, or shamed in to silence and apology. Could this be exactly what Jesus was talking about? Are we wandering about with giant logs in our own eyes and ignoring the planks in others? Are we trying to give what is sacred to those who are enraged, and being trampled under foot and devoured for it? Let us, then, first remove the log from our own eyes. Let us look clearly at the world through Christ's word, and let us love (and live) accordingly. The world is on fire because we can't seem to understand this point. It's time to have a logging party, and it begins in our own selves.
