Bug in the Eye

me
1964

"Don't pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults—unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging. And why worry about a speck in your friend's eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying to your friend, 'Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,' when you can't see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend's eye." (Matthew 7:1-5)

Last Friday at dusk, while riding my bike at the farm, a bug nailed me right smack dab in the eye. My eyeball felt like it was on fire! 

In the searing pain, Jesus' warning to hypocrites in Matthew 7 came to mind: "Why worry about a speck in your friend's eye when you have a [burning] log in your own?"

This week, I heard a great definition of hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is focusing on other's sins more than my own.

Nailed.

Lord Jesus, please forgive me for my hypocrisy. Help me recognize, confess, and repent of my own sins before I even try to help a friend turn from theirs.

Amen, beloved?