Examine Your Heart

“Do not judge, or you will be judged. For with the same judgment you pronounce, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. 

Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but fail to notice the beam in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while there is still a beam in your own eye? You hypocrite! First take the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”
– Matthew 7:1-5


Jesus’ teaching here strikes at the core of our impulse to correct others. It’s not that we should never help a fellow believer grow or change—it’s that we must first examine our own hearts. Hypocrisy begins when we focus more on someone else's flaws than our own need for transformation.

The image is powerful: a person with a beam of wood in their eye trying to remove a speck from another’s. We’re often blind to our own weaknesses while becoming experts at diagnosing others. But Jesus calls us to honest self-examination first. Only when our own hearts are being refined can we lovingly help others with theirs.

This passage also teaches us to lead with humility. It’s not wrong to help someone see more clearly, but it’s wrong to do so without love, without repentance, and without awareness of our own failings. When we deal with our “beam,” we approach others not as judges, but as fellow pilgrims—gentle, careful, and kind.


Questions

1. What “beams” in your own life might be distorting how you see others?

2. How do you feel when someone points out your faults without acknowledging their own?

3. What steps can you take toward greater humility and self-awareness?


Suggested Activity

Spend time in quiet reflection today. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal areas in your heart or behavior that need correction. Confess these to God. Then, if there is someone whose “speck” you’ve been focusing on, pray for them—not as a project to fix, but as a person to love.


Prayer

Lord Jesus, 

I confess that it’s easier to see the flaws in others than to face my own. But You call me to a deeper honesty. Search me and know me, and help me to grow in humility. Remove what blinds me, so that if I speak to others, I do so with compassion and grace. May I never forget that I am in constant need of Your mercy.

In Your name I pray. Amen.

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