Logs and specks

Matthew 7 : 1 - 5

..then you will see clearly.....

I suspect this passage is an 'ouch' for a good number of us. It is easy to gloss over but when it is brought in to examine our lives, we find we do fall short. I think it is not so much that we set out to be critical and judgmental of others. I notice from listening to people and from my own experience, that often it is an inability to 'let go' of something the other person has done, by omission or commission - that we keep seeing the 'wrong' in the other. In time, of course the 'wrong' becomes magnified.........Jesus uses hyperbole to point this out. In time, the other person's wrongdoing grows large and this fuels further judgmentalism on our part. But Jesus says that the other's wrong may be just a 'speck' after all. And most probably that is how it started out, before we added fuel to it. On the other hand, the wrong in ourselves has grown to be a 'log' because we have failed to address our own failings, spending time instead focusing on the weaknesses of others.

Apart from just being determined not to judge others - it might help if we were to learn to 'let go' more readily. To forgive, to live with the frailty of others, even in the church context, and of course to acknowledge our own frail humanity. And always to remember that "we were sinners" (totally unworthy of such a magnanimous gift) when Christ died for us.

I just received news that my friend's young niece has died, after her courageous battle with cancer over the past few months. We have been praying for her and for the family. Even though I have not met Hannah or her family (they live in NZ) they have grown close to my heart. And I grieve with my friend and her family in their painful loss. O God who gives and God who takes away, be especially close to these faithful ones who look to you for comfort.