We generally have enough to deal with without worrying about what others are doing. But while wisdom and discernment are needed, there does come a time to address the issue when others are missing the mark. It’s not love to simply deal with our issues and not eventually offer loving correction to them as well.
Christ teaches us to pay more attention to the log in our own eye than the speck of sawdust in our brother’s eye. And certainly it’s a profound shift for many simply to own the issues on our side of the street. In fact, a lot of problems and conflicts are prevented when we all do this.
At the same time, Christ didn’t teach us just to deal with the log in our own eye. Rather, he said first take the log out of our own eye so that we can see clearly to remove the speck from our brother’s eye.
This means there comes a time to address the shortcomings of others. To be sure, it comes after we’ve dealt with our own issues, at least reasonably so, as this allows us to address the issue in love and not merely to benefit us.
For instance, in marriage there is often much more we can do to love our wife better. And we should proactively correct things when we miss the mark. All the same, it’s a mistake to assume we’re the only ones who have room for improvement. Our wife is not perfect either, and there’s a time to address and help remove the speck from her eyes.
We hinder her growth when we take full responsibility for the state of our marriage without also addressing her room for improvement.
In the end, remember the words of Christ and remove the log from your own eye first. But remember also that this is so you can see clearly because there comes a time to address the speck in the eye of others as well.
Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash
