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JANUARY 11
MOVING FROM JUDGING TO HELPING
“…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? 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.” (Mt 7: 2-5)
I don’t have perfect self-knowledge, nor do I always see “the log in my own
eye.” In that state I only feel annoyed, frustrated, or helplessly baffled by
other people’s issues. But I do have a tool to help me see my own issues,
and that’s self-examination. I find it helpful to sit down and make a list,
noting those things I repeatedly do, and then wish I hadn’t done.
I can’t turn these things around overnight, nor do I have the power
to turn them around on my own, without God’s loving help. But I can
begin this prayerful process by taking an honest look at myself, and then
handing my set of shortcomings over to God, so He can build with me
on the foundation of humility. From this vantage-point I can lend others
a hand from time to time, not as a self-appointed judge, but as a fellowstruggler.
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