Log Splitting
Why is it so easy to spot someone else's faults?
Surely there are things we do and say that reveal our flaws to the world. We are not perfect, after all, so we must make mistakes. But do we hold ourselves as accountable as we hold others?
Why do you see the speck in your neighbor's eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbor, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' while the log is in your own eye?- Matthew 7:3-4
What I like about this lesson from Matthew's Gospel is that Jesus is not saying we should restrain from helping our neighbor remove the speck from his eye, but that we should first free our own eye of the log that is impairing our vision.
Our judgments therefore need to be framed around our own propensity to fall into sin, rather than assuming we are better than our neighbor.
If I truly seek to help you, shouldn't I be as eager to help myself?
In my daily contact with people in need, I encounter some who are struggling with addiction. How easy it is to fall into the trap of trying to help them seek help for themselves. If I have not addressed my own issues, am I right to help them with theirs?
I may tell myself that my problems are nothing compared to theirs, just like the man Jesus spoke about who prayed to God thanking him for not letting him become like the poor man.
Instead, I think we need to take a close look at ourselves. That doesn't mean we don't try to help others. We may be called to do just that, but to do so from a position of superiority is to be guilty of pride and self-love.
So, how do we split the log in our eye and free it from obstructions?
One way might be to ask for help. If it is easy for us to see the flaws in others, then our flaws should be just as visible. So, if we seek to become better by asking for help, we gain the trust of those whose need appears to be greater than ours.
We might find that our needs are greater than we thought, and theirs are not nearly as deep as we assumed. Ah, but that is the point, isn't it?
Seek first to be true and truth will reveal itself.
More to come...