Why is it so easy to read a book or hear a sermon and apply it to someone else? Why can’t we apply truth to ourselves and not worry about others? Why can’t we let the Holy Spirit convict and change others, just as he does us? Why do we act as if he needs our help dealing with his people?
Jesus had something to say about those who apply truth to others while ignoring their own issues:
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.
(Matthew 7:3–5)
Jesus called these spiritual inspectors hypocrites. Ouch. That would be me at times—the times I read or hear something and apply it to others rather than to myself—the times I focus on the dust in other’s eyes while ignoring the log in mine.
A couple of the blogs I occasionally read both mentioned this idea recently. Check out what Steven Furtick and Perry Noble think about picking splinters out of the eyes of others.