Verse: Matthew 7:3-5
3 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? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? 5 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.
Devotion
To be honest with you guys, this one can feel kind of harsh but it’s pretty straight forwards. It’s easy to pick out sin that we see in other people. It can seem apparent and make us feel as though we have a place to point it out. There is definitely biblical context of there being a time and a place to do so. God gives us much instruction on how to confront others in love (Matthew 18:15-16, Ephesians 4:15-19, James 5:19-20) But, that is not this passage. Rather, God is pushing us to identify and address our own sin before worrying about the sin in others. We need to be most focused on our process of sanctification. Through our relationship with the Lord, in prayer, worship, reading the Word, being in community, our awareness of our own sin grows and we’re able to become more and more like Jesus.
In college, someone shared this chart with me and I found it really helpful. As we grow in awareness of the Lord, we’re able to become more aware of our sinfulness. This is where true growth can happen.
Reflection: I’ll leave this for you to reflect on. What disciplines do you practice in your faith to help you continue learning more about God, pushing you to grow? How can you keep taking steps closer to the cross to keep growing in sanctification?