“And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Either how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother’s eye” (Luke 6:41-42).
Wouldn’t it be a wonderful world if we could only get people to change and do what we want them to do?
It’s probably not what most of us want to hear, but in order for others to change, it must first begin with me. The problem is, we are prone to be blind to our own faults. In fact, the Lord Jesus pointed out the hypocrisy of seeing the faults in others without ever noticing my own.
In His teaching, the Lord said that we see the speck (mote) in our brother’s eye, but we don’t see the plank (beam) that is in our own eye. The mote is some fault our brother has, but the beam is our reaction to it. Perhaps the real problem in a struggling relationship is me. Perhaps my attitude needs to change. It may be me that needs to humble myself and apologize!
It’s a hard lesson to learn, and one that we need to learn over and over again. None of us can change anybody else, and it’s not even our job to do so. But we can, with God’s help, work on ourselves. We can change our attitude or our behavior, and when that happens, it may seem as if others have changed as well.
If I want to see others change, it must first begin with me (“Cast out FIRST the beam out of thine own eye”). Then, when God works a change IN us, He can work to change others THROUGH us. But it all begins with me!
A famous evangelist was once asked by a person what they could do to help the much-needed cause of revival. His answer was, “Draw a circle on the floor, step into it, and then ask God to send revival to that circle.”
Does our city, county, state, and nation need revival? Yes! Then, let’s pray, “And may it begin with me!” As the old song says, “It’s not my brother, not my sister, but it’s me, O Lord, standing in the need of prayer.”