This week, we are encouraged to do some personal excavation with Matthew 7:3-5 as our prompt:
“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? 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? 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.”
To me, this verse sounds like a case of classic projection. Projection, (a term coined by Sigmund Freud) is when we (unconsciously) ascribe our own unacceptable urges or traits to others in order to avoid acknowledging them within ourselves. Our projections are the plank in our eye (or heart), obscuring our vision and keeping us from seeing our brother clearly. Therefore, I think a good starting point is to “inspect the speck”. As I have witnessed in my own life, 9 out of 10 times, the speck, what I judge and even “hate” in another, is actually my very own sin or shame hiding in plain sight as the alleged sin of my brother or sister.
The speck essentially reveals the plank. We don’t see the plank because we are terrified or ashamed of admitting to ourselves that we have faults, that we stumble, that our hearts are twisted and even bitter.
Planks are heavy, hard to remove and even harder to carry. So, how are we to take out the plank?
We must start with the Spirit of Truth: The Holy Spirit. “But when the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth….” (John 16:13.) We must have the courage to ask the Holy Spirit to show us the truth about ourselves, the sin of which we are unaware or unwilling to examine. This can be a deeply terrifying endeavor, but the Holy Spirit also gives us the courage to look at the truth. “For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. (2 Timothy 1:7.) We are so lovingly and gently encouraged to”walk the plank” by Isaiah 54:4: “Do not be afraid, you will not be put to shame. Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated. You will forget the shame of your youth and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood.”
The Holy Spirit tenderly guides us in our repentance; and, as stated in 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
We continually remove the plank as many times as necessary as we stay close to the Holy Spirit, who produces the following fruit in our lives: “…love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control….” (Galatians 5:22-23.) In the space where the plank once resided, Christ will grow these fruits and deepen our understanding of the truth of who we are in Him. We are greatly loved children of God, God’s masterpiece, wholly without blemish through the powerful blood of the lamb; (so powerful, it can raise the dead).
Armed with THE Truth, we can finally see clearly our brother, whom we judged so mercilessly. Our new found clarity may just reveal that he needs no correction at all. Perhaps when we remove the plank, our brother’s speck disappears? Or maybe we can finally see it for what it is: just a speck.
by Jeanne Melberg
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