. If we are quick to perceive blemishes
and faults in others, J.R. Miller, Daily Bible Readings
in the Life of Christ, 1890. . 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? Matthew 7.3. It is strange how
oblivious we can be to our own faults and blemishes, and how
clearly we can see those of other people. One old writer says,
Men are more apt to use a magnifying glass to behold other men's faults
than a mirror to behold their own. A man can see a little speck
of dust in his neighbor's eye, while utterly unaware of the
great plank in his own eye. He observes the most minute fault
in his brother, while unconscious of his own far greater faults. We would say that a plank in
a man's eye would so blind him that he could not see the speck
in another's eye. As our Lord represents it, however,
the man with a plank is the very one who sees the speck and thinks
himself competent to remove it. So it is in morals. No man is
so sharp at seeing a fault in another as he who has the same
or a similar fault of his own. A vain man is the first to detect
the indications of vanity in another. A bad-tempered person
is most apt to be censorious toward a neighbor who displays
bad temper. One with a sharp, uncontrolled
tongue has the least patience with another whose speech is
full of poisoned arrows. A selfish man discovers even
specks of selfishness in others. Rude people are the very first
to be hurt and offended by the rudeness of a neighbor. So it
is always, if we are quick to perceive blemishes and faults
in others, The probability is that we have far greater blemishes
and faults in ourselves. This truth ought to make us exceedingly
careful in our judgments, and exceedingly modest in our expressions
of censure, for we really are telling the world our own faults. It is wiser, as well as more
in accordance with the Spirit of Christ, for us to find lovely
things in others, and to be silent regarding their faults.