The speck in your friend's eye.

Good Holy Thursday to you, my friends.

I was reading through the Sermon on the Mount once again this morning and today I was taken by Jesus humorous words near the opening of Chapter 7:

"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)

I love the imagery here.  But I am afraid many of us has used this scripture as an excuse NOT to point out the speck (or even the plank) in our friend's eye.  It does NOT say that you cannot do this, it just says to remove the plank from your own eye FIRST, and then you can help your friend.  

I was listening this week to the story of a Pastor who was counselling a young woman, got emotionally involved, and ended up having an affair with her.  It destroyed his marriage and his ministry.  When he spoke to his friends afterwards they all said "Boy, we saw that coming!" and yet NONE of them went to him and confronted him about it.  How about it - is there someone in your life who needs loving confrontation today?  Yes, it is hard to do, and if you try to do it on your own strength you may never do it, so ask for God's help and guidance.

Amazing grace and eternal peace to you today,

Bruce

Jesus, we are so blessed to have Your words to live by.  Through Your teachings You have shown us the heart of the Father.

Lord, we ask you to help us to live in true community - helping to carry each other's burdens and watching out for one another.

Where we see a brother or sister who may be veering off the narrow path give us the courage to approach them in love, committed to helping them in their journey and relying on them for the same.

And when one of these brothers or sisters come to us, Lord, to confront us for our words or deeds, may we receive them with grace and humility, appreciating the love behind their action.

We lift this up in Your holy name, Lord Jesus.  Amen.

Bruce MacPherson macpherson@celtic.ca / Blog: The Celtic Christian / Home: 613.489.4174 Cell: 613.720.0821 You are receiving this email because you have requested it or I felt you would be interested in this material. If you would like to be removed from this email list, please do not hesitate to contact me at the above email address. Likewise, if you know of someone else who you believe would appreciate receiving these messages, please let me know.