The other day I was routing some wood without glasses and a large wood chip came off and went into my eye. This made me think of the following:
Matthew 7:3-5 New International Version (NIV)
3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
Then I started to think what does this really mean. If you do a google search, you will find that there are a lot of thoughts on this topic.
Here is what this set of verses means to me. The plank represents the problems or faults in our own life. Our problems or faults can cloud our vision so we do not see the whole truth. We need to focus on correcting our problems or faults first instead of focusing on those of others. The problem is that it is so easy to focus on the bad habits, sins, faults, and shortcomings of others and not be honest with our self.
When people see you change, they will begin to wonder and will eventually ask. When they do, that gives you an opportunity to introduce them to Christ. If you can only focus on the sins or faults of others, then take a step back to see if you are really seeing it clearly. I also encourage you to pray for change and to thank God for whichever path He chooses.