“And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but conisderest not the beam that is in thine own eye? O how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye” (KJV, Matt. 7:3-5).
“And why”
Father, I thank You for Your Word. You have given me more than I deserve and have spoken to me despite my unworthiness. Help me to take heed to what You seek to tell me. I can find in Your Word an abundance of help. However, I still need Your Spirit to enlighten me.
Please open my eyes, Holy Spirit, and help me see why I do what I do. I pray that You would not simply show me the fruit of my sin problems but that You would show me the root. The fruit does not tell me why I do what I do. Therefore, it is the root that I am after.
When I understand why I do the things that I do, then I can pull out the root and stop the fruit. However, if I seek to pluck the fruit from the branch, I will only see more fruit in due time. Teach me, Lord, to see what I do not see. Teach me to see the root that lurks beneath the surface.
“beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye”
Father, I also pray that You teach me to fight against being critical and judgmental. Please help me in this area and teach me how to minister to others appropriately. Help me to love as Christ loved, and help me to serve as Christ served. Jesus is a wonderful example, and I pray that the life of Christ will be manifest in my life. For to live is Christ. Not simply to live is to be like Jesus but to have the life of Jesus as one with my own.
“but conisderest not the beam that is in thine own eye”
Teach me to look to myself and do the bulk of the work in my heart. There is much work to do in my life, and I pray that You will assist me. Jesus, would You manifest Your presence in my life? Would You bear much fruit and supply me with what I need to be a fruitful branch? Teach me what it means to abide in the Vine and to have the Vine abide in me.
I can do nothing apart from Christ. So, Jesus, I pray that You show me how to take the beam out of my eye. Help me to remove the sin that keeps me from seeing You and beholding Your glory. Please get rid of the darkness that blinds my vision.
The enemy would seek to keep me blind, but You came that I would have sight. You desire that I would behold You in all Your glory. You would delight in me looking upon You as my exalted Savior. Therefore, please remove the beam in my eye so I can see.
“O how wilt thou say to thy brother”
Father, I am puzzled at how to speak words of life to my fellow brother. Sometimes I am unaware of how to use Your Word to share a word in season. However, I see that Jesus addresses a significant concern. How would I be able to share a word with my brother to help him if I had not worked on the area in my own life?
Teach me to grow in Christ in my own life, and that people need more than to hear about Jesus. Is the Christianity that I am living worthy of sharing? Work Your Word and Your will into my life. Teach me what it means to walk in the power of the Spirit and as a new creation.
Your Word has much to say about the type of speech I must use. My words are to be gracious and seasoned with salt. I am to be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry. I am also told that if I answer before I hear, it is folly and shame to me. Teach me what I must do to minister faithfully.
“Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye”
Yet again, I see Jesus drawing my attention to help others with their sin. However, the context is that of being judgmental. Work in my heart and cause me to look upon the risen Lord. Teach me to lean into Christ and to have the life of Christ come out of my life.
“and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye”
Herein I see that my primary focus must be my sin rather than the sin of others. Teach me to remove the beam. Paul has told me in Romans 6 that I have been baptized into Christ Jesus. He tells me that I have been united to my Savior and have died, been buried, and risen with Jesus to newness of life. I have died to the law and to sin. My foundation for holiness is not rooted in my efforts but in what Christ has done.
Not only that, but Paul also tells me that I am to live a life in the Spirit. This means that I will mortify the flesh by the Spirit of God. The flesh cannot kill the flesh. Therefore, I will be of no help to myself. I must, by the Spirit, put to death the sin that remains.
“Thou hypocrite”
Rid me of hypocrisy. I see that Jesus called the Pharisees hypocrites. They were hypocrites because they outwardly performed religious deeds, but their hearts were far from Christ. Guard my heart against such hypocrisy. I would desire to honor Christ in my life and my heart. Work Your will within me and cause me to submit to Your commands.
“first cast out the beam out of thine own eye”
Here I see what I am to do first. The first thing I must do is cast out the beam from my eye. Father, would You please help me to lay aside the weight and the sin that so easily entangles me and teach me how to endure in this life by looking to Jesus, the Author, and Finisher of my Faith? I have plenty of sin that needs to be dealt with, but I pray that You would help me live victoriously through my Savior. Jesus came to save His people from their sins and to do away with sin. Therefore, I know that Jesus can help me to cast out the beam.
“and then shalt thou see clearly”
Give me eyes to see clearly. Jesus, would You rub my eyes like You did the blind man? Satan seeks to blind the mind of the unbeliever. After David sinned, he was blinded to what he had done. In Ephesians, Paul prayed that the eyes of the people’s understanding would be enlightened. It is no minor matter to see things clearly. To see clearly is to see with the eyes of faith and understanding. To see clearly is to be blessed by God and impacted by Your grace.
“to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye”
Only when I learn to cast out the beam from my eye will I learn to help my fellow brother. Elsewhere, Jesus told a parable and asked if a blind man could lead another blind man. The answer was obvious. If a blind man would lead another blind man, they would both fall into the same pit. When someone seeks to teach another, the disciple will be like the teacher. As a result, if I would desire to teach others, I must learn that those under me will only rise to the heights of the life that I am living. Please help me to take out the beam. In Jesus’ name, Amen.