The Speck and the Log

When my husband and I married, I noticed everything he did wrong. He spent too much time with his friends, watched excessive TV, did not spend enough time with his kids, and failed to control his temper. I had no problem critiquing everything he was doing.

It stayed that way until I began my faith journey with God. As I aimed to grow deeper in my relationship with God and my knowledge of Him, I started learning things about myself that I had not noticed before. The word began to expose all the problem areas I had in my heart. There were plenty of things I had yet to work on. As I began to work on becoming a better person myself, I had no time to pick up on everything my husband was doing wrong. The things God was exposing about me were so much more significant. They made what I was critiquing my husband for seem so insignificant that I didn't notice them.

I was picking the specks in his eye, not realizing I had a log in mine.

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? (Matt. 7:3 ESV)

When I turned my focus onto myself, I realized that my husband seemed angelic compared to the issues I discovered in myself.

The same applies to the body of Christ. Someone who is very critical of others just has yet to discover the truth about themselves. When God's light begins to expose the condition of our hearts, the faults of others become so small they are nearly invisible. When we focus our attention on the log in our eyes, we will have no time to pick out the specks in others.

A Pharisee is hard on others and easy on himself, but a spiritual man is easy on others and hard on himself.  A.W. Tozer