Thursday, October 17, 2024

Walking In Love - Plank Awareness

"And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not perceive the plank in your own eye?
Or how can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me remove the speck that is in your eye,' when you yourself do not see the plank that is in your own eye?  Hypocrite!  First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother's eye."
Luke 6:41-42 (NKJV)

It can be easy to notice problems other people have, and be irritated and offended by them, without having any awareness of issues in our own life that cause problems for others.  A good example of this is how people deal with their luggage when boarding a plane, and they sometimes bump into others with their things.  And then they store their bags without any thought of how what they are doing affects anyone else.  It would be better if everyone paid a little more attention to what they were doing, and how it affects others.

While people seem to get more and more self-absorbed, this is not a good thing, and it is definitely contrary to what the Bible teaches.  Too often people are caught up in their own world and what matters the most to them, and they have no thought for how what they are doing affects others.  It can be hard to break the habit of selfishness, and to not be offended when other people act poorly, but as Christians, we have the love of God in our heart, and we can be kind and walk in love towards others.

In Luke 6, Jesus talked about people who saw a small problem that someone else had (which He compared to a speck), and how these people seemed oblivious to the problem they themselves had (which Jesus compared to a plank).  It is easy to see the faults of others and miss the things in our own life that need to be dealt with.  Rather than look at other people's problems (the specks), we need to walk in love and have some "plank awareness," through the help of the Holy Spirit and living by the standard of God's Word.  That way we can be more effective in helping others.

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