Removing the Plank

by Meredith

Matthew 7:3-5 “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.”

I love this verse because the example makes judging others so clear. Basically, you can’t correct someone when you have the same problem. I think this applies to me like when I correct E. in things I do too. An example is when he isn’t grateful. He will just complain and whine when nothing is wrong. I will usually just tell him to stop complaining and be thankful. But everyday, I also take things for granted. So I need to get my heart in the right place and have the right motives before I go and judge him. And I should be an example for him to follow Jesus.

It’s been pretty hard lately and we’ve all had some issues and lost our patience. But God’s been with us the whole way through and provided for us. The other day in church we talked about living for eternity and not being distracted by the things of this world. He asked, “What are you doing that will count for eternity?” I strongly think foster care is a great answer. Giving kids a home when they really need one. Of course there are many other answers and everyone has a different story, but this is also very important. And none of this is about me, my family, or E. All the glory goes to the Lord, and He’s adopted all of us into His kingdom. God will always be E’s father, no matter what happens, and there’s peace to be found.