Get The Log Out

 I once had something in my eye. Oh, it hurt so bad. It felt like it was scratching and shredding my eyeball. And I did that thing you are never supposed to do, I rubbed it. 

I thought for a minute that I had gotten it out but I just moved it to a different part of my eye, so now I was tearing up another place on my eyeball.

I asked a friend to look in my eye to see if she could see anything but she didn't. I felt sure that as bad as it hurt that it had to be big enough to see. 

Finally after awhile what ever it was worked itself out and I had relief.

If you had something in your eye, I wouldn't feel it, but you sure would.

In scripture, Jesus uses the following illustration:

Why do you look at 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,' and behold, the log is 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. (Matthew 7:3-5 NASB)

In other words, why do we concern ourselves so much with someone else's faults, something that should be bothering them and rubbing them sore, yet doesn't affect us; Especially when we have more than a speck of faults in our own lives?

Usually when we offer to help someone get something out of their eye it is because we are concerned for them. And true, when we see a "speck" of sin in someone's life we should be concerned for them. But you cannot be removing someone's "speck" if you have a log of sin in your own life.

It is not pleasant to be "corrected" by someone that you know has faults as big or bigger than yours.

And if you are doing the correcting, you better have "clean eyes."