SM #40: The Plank-Eye Process

Why do you look at the speck that’s in your brother’s or sister’s eye, but don’t notice the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother or sister, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there’s a plank in your eye? Hypocrite! First take the plank out of your eye, and then you’ll see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s or sister’s eye. ~ JESUS (Matthew 7:3-5)

Prefer to learn by listening? Click the picture link for an AI audio overview. (In which our AI hosts report my confession as though it is their own. God bless 'em.)

CORE

(The heart of the message)

When we are judging from above, we can't come alongside to help. This is a serious issue for Jesus, since helping to heal the hearts of sinners is what his message and mission are all about.

"Showing mercy to others is an act of wisdom that flows out of a recognition of the mercy God has shown us. Judging harshly is an act of foolishness and reveals that you do not understand God's grace." ~ Daniel L. Akin (Exalting Jesus in The Sermon on the Mount)

"The heart that has tasted the Lord's grace and forgiveness will always be restrained in its judgement of others."

~ Sinclair Ferguson (Sermon on the Mount)

"When disciples have developed this critical, condemning attitude as a pattern of life, they have forced love out of their relationships with others ... In other words, to fall into a pattern of life in which we judge others is to show that we are not true members of the kingdom of heaven."

~ Michael J. Wilkins (The NIV Application Commentary)

CONUNDRUM

(Raising questions skeptics might be asking)

As we noticed in our last post, Jesus says "don't judge" - and then he tells us to judge something as wrong in someone's life enough to try to help them remove it (e.g., a speck or splinter). So, should we judge or not?

What gives Jesus?

CONTEXT

(What’s going on before and after this passage)

We are now learning one of the most useful, practical, people-changing, community-healing, relationship-restoring, and soul-salvaging practices originated by Jesus: the plank-eye process.

As we discussed in our last study, Jesus has condemned condemnation itself while also encouraging wise and humble discernment of right and wrong. (If you haven't read the previous study, please do that first. It sets the stage for this article.)

Now Jesus (the carpenter's son, Matthew 13:55) uses a carpentry analogy to teach a crucial lesson.

One of the first stories in the Bible is about family strife and eventually murder: Cain killing his brother Abel. When God confronts Cain by asking him where Abel has gone, Cain pretends not to know and says:

Am I my brother’s keeper? ~ Cain (Genesis 4:9)

The New Testament answers this question with a resounding YES! We are one another's guardians, protectors, and helpers. We are responsible for having each other's backs. It's not enough just to not kill or condemn or show contempt, but we should lean into life with one another, always ready to offer aid from a humble disposition. Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, is teaching us how to do this.

"What Jesus does here is complex: he creates self-awareness leading to self-judgment; this leads to humility, which in turn leads to repentance and sanctification; this leads to the kind of humility that treats other sinners with mercy; it creates a kingdom society shaped not by condemnation but humility, love, and forgiveness." ~Scot McKnight (Sermon on the Mount)

Jesus will give more details on the specifics of the plank-eye-process in Matthew 18 (worth reading and re-reading that whole chapter). And the apostle Paul writes about the early church's struggle to apply it properly in a few places (also worth reading) - 1 Corinthians 5; 2 Corinthians 2:5-11; Galatians 6:1-5; 1 Thessalonians 5:14; 2 Thessalonians 3:14-15; Titus 3:10. For now, it is worth keeping Jesus' follow-up teaching in Matthew 18 in mind:

If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a gentile or a tax collector. ~ JESUS (Matthew 18:15-17)

Finally, as far as context goes, a reminder that in just a few verses Jesus will sum up his teaching with the Golden Rule. We should see Jesus' teaching here about the plank-eye process as one way we can live out the principle of treating others the way we want to be treated.

So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. ~ JESUS (Matthew 7:12)

CONSIDER

(Observations about the passage)

Look at the speck. Jesus says it is easy to see another's struggles, even if they are small. Our critical faculties are often finely tuned when it's about someone else. The word for "speck" refers to any small irritant: a dry piece of wood or straw, from a splinter down to a teeny tiny bit of sawdust. We all know the feeling of "Oww, I've got something in my eye," and the frustration of trying to get it out.

Your brother’s or sister’s eye. Even though we notice problems with all kinds of people, we especially see the struggles of those closest to us. And often we feel a larger license to criticize and condemn those who are fellow followers of Jesus. This emphasis on fellow sisters and brothers also reminds us that Jesus is addressing the Sermon on the Mount to his disciples and does not expect everyone to embrace his straight and narrow way. Trying to force nonbelievers to follow these precious principles would be like giving pearls to pigs.

Plank. The Greek word refers to a large supportive weightbearing log used in building, a massive vision-blocking beam. This is a ridiculous cartoonish image designed to be memorable, like straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel (Matthew 23:24). The Son of God is funny! Jesus is calling us to self-awareness rather than self-righteousness. Few things are worse than the combination of ignorance and arrogance:

"Jesus is drawing attention to a curious feature of the human race in which a profound ignorance of oneself is so often combined with an arrogant presumption of knowledge about others, especially about their faults." ~ Leon Morris (The Gospel According to Matthew)

Hypocrite. Up until now, Jesus has only referred to the religious leaders as hypocrites. Now he warns his disciples that they too are sometimes in danger of becoming more religious than relational. As discussed in our last post, this word refers to someone who wears a mask, presenting a surface version of themselves and assessing others based on the shallow and superficial rather than looking deeper. Hypocrisy means relating to people on the exterior, status-to-status, appearance-to-appearance, and image-to-image, rather than heart-to-heart. Earlier, in chapter 6, Jesus talked about the hypocrisy of wanting to put our spirituality on display rather than cultivating a deeper secret relationship with God. Now Jesus says we can be hypocrites (surface dwellers) by focusing on someone's seen sins while we ignore our unseen hearts of judgmentalism. Hypocrites are devoted to inspection without introspection. Hypocrites forget that it's hard to smell our own breath.

As Jesus will say in another context:

Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge with righteous judgement. ~ JESUS (John 7:24)

First/Then. The final goal is to be helpful. We are to address the specks in one another's eyes. Jesus doesn't say "If you notice a speck in someone's eye, ignore it. It's none of your business." No, he gives us a way to help that doesn't cause more damage in the process. Before we set out to help, we first deal with our own ocular lumber. Jesus is promoting self-reflection over self-promotion. The image is as comical as it is iconic. The one with a bad case of plank-eye will not only have poor vision to really discern correctly, but they are also likely to keep whacking the patient in the skull with every turn of their head. Judgmental people make things worse, even though they feel like they are making things better. But a person who has gone through the plank-eye process and removed their own beam, well, there is no one better qualified to help someone else with their eye trouble. This is the healing power of groups like AA. No one is better qualified to help another with a significant struggle than the person who can say, "I've been there." Wounded healers are how Jesus wants to change the world.

"The coward loves to condemn others for their sin, and to feel quite sanctimonious in doing so, but it takes courage to help get a person back on track and to restore them."

~ Charles Price (Matthew)

"Faults are thick where mercy is thin." ~ Frederick Dale Bruner (The Christbook)

Jesus often uses humour to teach serious truths.

COMMENTARY

(Thoughts about meaning and application)

Jesus contrasts specks of sawdust and beams of wood. How are they related?

Sawdust is what is produced when wood is cut and fashioned. If the log of wood represents religious judgementalism, then building our religion out of that very attitude of self-righteous judgementalism is what helps spread the sawdust of sin and shame around to irritate eyes and hearts. Once sin-obsessed condemnatory religious leaders have created the pain of shame, they sell us their solution: participate in their traditions, give money to their ministry, use the words they tell us, get behind their agenda, and perhaps we can find atonement and acceptance.

The macabre carpentry of condemnatory religion creates its own job security.

Building our religion on the basis of blame, shame, and judgementalism creates the specks we then offer to remove.

Does the difference between a plank and a speck mean that some sins are big and others are small? What if we honestly feel like the other person's sin is more log-like and our issues are more sawdust-similar. Does the plank-eye process always apply?

Even though all sin is ultimately destructive and divisive, we don't have to pretend that all sin is equal. Jesus said that some sins are bigger than others (John 19:11). But we are learning from Jesus that what he considers the bigger sins might not be what we think.

For Jesus, one of the biggest sins is the idolatrous choice to sit in the seat of judgement over a human heart - that seat belongs to God alone.

The most destructive sins are those that come from hearts that fail to be formed by the Gospel of grace, mercy, and peace. So if we ever feel like that person's sin is bigger than ours, like they have the plank and we only have a speck, the greater sin may be our judgement itself. The judgmental Christian always has the larger lumber load.

Anyone who wants to confront another, expose another, rebuke another without taking the time to form their own humility and gentleness through the plank-eye process, may find that this attitude itself is their plank! Jesus has just told us so: "Stop judging!" According to Jesus, judgementalism itself is the log in our eye.

Why is judgementalism not just wrong, but really really wrong? As we discussed in our previous study, judgmentalism arises out of the primordial sin of grasping to be like God in all the wrong ways.

Adam and Eve ate from the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil", that is, "the tree of I know what's right and wrong and I will now judge everyone else by my standards thank you very much".

Judgementalism plays God.

Judgementalism lacks humility.

Judgementalism lacks gentleness.

Judgementalism is self-deceptive, self-blinding.

Judgementalism is hypocritical.

Judgementalism is... (you can continue the list)

So, yes, some sins are worse than others. And judging/condemning rather than healing/helping is one of the worst of all.

And yet, if we are to truly love one another, we need the ability to help correct one another, challenge one another, and help one another get back on the right path when we stray. This is what makes the plank-eye process so crucial for all Jesus people. We can't just wash our hands and say, "It's not my place to judge", because it is our place to help. Jesus people need a nonjudgmental way to care enough to confront and correct.

Humans have the tendency to choose willful blindness to our own sins while seeing others' failures so clearly. Or at least we minimize and make excuses for our sin in ways we don't do for others. God knew this when he sent Nathan the prophet to confront King David about his sin. Nathan portrayed David's sin to David as though it was someone else's wrongdoing, and that helped David see it and condemn it for what it is. Then when the "Thou art the man!" moment came, David's eyes were opened (see 2 Samuel 12:1-12).

Thou art the man!

I fixed it.

Jesus told the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector about humble repentance to the religious leaders of his day because they "were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else" (Luke 18:9). In other words, they had logs in their eyes. Religion often makes us feel superior, like we've got that special thing those non-religious people or struggling sinners just don't have. So ironically, sometimes people who claim to be Christians can be the most plank-eyed judgmental people of all.

Luke 18:9-14

I fixed it again.

After Jesus left this earth, the apostles helped the early Church apply the teachings of Jesus in their kingdom communities. The apostle Paul helped a number of small churches live out this teaching (see list in the context section), and in one passage he summarizes it this way:

Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, for each one should carry their own load. ~ The apostle Paul (Galatians 6:1-5)

A few things to notice in this passage:

• If someone is caught. This can mean both being trapped by sin and being exposed in that sin. Since restoration is the goal, any form of repentance is welcomed, whether or not a sinner willingly initiates their confession or they are caught in sin and exposed, like King David, like Peter, and like just about every significant sinner. The common protest "If they were sincere in their repentance they would have confessed before they were caught" is just not a biblical concern.

• You who are spiritual. There are some Christians who might not (yet) be mature or spiritual enough to handle any form of confrontation about sin. The fruit of the Spirit, especially gentleness (something Paul highlights one chapter earlier), is not yet fully formed in them. They may still be trapped in or at least tempted toward the world's ways of condemnation, contempt, and cancelling those who fail. And so they may do more damage than good if they try to confront someone caught in their sin. These less mature Christians should sit this one out and keep their mouths shut. (Unfortunately, their lack of maturity often means they are the loudest among us. Ironically, they are quite caught in their own sin.)

• Restore. Restoration is the goal. Anything short of full restoration into community fellowship is not yet permeated by the Gospel.

• Gently. The plank-eye-process of Jesus is designed to lead to our humility which results in gentleness.

• Carry each other's burdens. Here is a picture of the communal Christian life. We are here to help one another always. Any one Christian's problem is the family of faith's problem. This will necessitate proximity - we must live close enough to each other relationally, not only geographically, to be there for one another.

• Carry their own load. So which is it? Should we carry each other's burdens or stick to carrying our own load? This captures the same paradox of Jesus' teaching not to judge, but yet to discern and help. We help each other to the extent we are welcomed in, and yet first we remove our own planks.

"It is a matter of restoration. The aim in dealing with the one 'caught' is to bring them back on the path of Jesus and to establish them there so their progress in kingdom character and living can continue. Nothing is to be done that is not useful to this specific end." ~ Dallas Willard (The Divine Conspiracy)

In another passage Paul tells us to have the mindset of Jesus, specifically in the ways Jesus came, not to be served, but to serve (read Mark 10:45 and Philippians 2:3-8 back to back). The plank-eye process is how we do this when sin must be confronted.

Let's look at the plank-eye process up close. When a situation arises that may require confrontation, how can we discern, prepare, and act? Let's look at three questions and three actions, then we'll address some common misunderstandings.

THREE QUESTIONS:

• AM I CLOSE ENOUGH? If I become aware of a sister's or brother's sin, I first need to ask if we are in a close enough relationship of love and trust to actually talk to them directly. If we are, I'm ready for step #2. If they are not close enough to me that I can talk to them in person, then I'm done. I don't gossip, I don't pronounce online judgements, I don't condemn. I can pray. Other than that, I need to sit down and shut-up.

• AM I FEELING SUPERIOR? Is my role as helper rather than the one being helped leading me to feel above the other person? Am I finding a sense of safety and security in my role as judge rather than the forgiveness of Christ? This very attitude could be the biggest plank in our eyes, and we need to reflect on the mercy of God for us so we can become excited to offer that mercy to another.

• AM I COMMITTED TO THE GOLDEN RULE? Do I empathize with the sister or brother who has sinned? Have I taken time to try to understand how they got there and how they might be feeling now? Jesus commands us to practice empathy, not just sympathy in this context. We need to become other-centred and put ourselves in their place so we can treat them the way we would want to be treated if the roles were reversed.

THREE STEPS:

• TALK ONE-ON-ONE, FACE-TO-FACE. Remember that the goal is restoration, not punishment. To this end, we should work to remove anything that might make it harder for any human to admit their guilt and ask for forgiveness. Jesus knows (and we should too) that many people will tend to reflexively deny or double down when publicly accused and shamed. Also, the Christian community may find it harder to receive a sister or brother back into nonjudgmental fellowship if their dirty laundry has been aired to all. So Jesus always emphasizes that privacy and intimacy are an essential first step. (If we are not ready to talk to the person one-on-one and face-to-face, we may enlist a church leader to go with us, or in extreme cases, represent us. But we should never abandon the Jesusy principle of first talking one-on-one, face-to-face.) Our hope should be that this first step is also the last step.

• KEEP TRYING, EXPANDING THE CIRCLES. If the sinning sister or brother won't listen to us one-on-one, we don't give up on them. They are too precious to give up too easily. We find different ways, different configurations, to help them see their sin. Jesus' hope is that at some point in this process, a light will go on for the person you are caring enough for to confront.

• HAVE A FULL INTERVENTION. Jesus says that in some hard-hearted cases we may need to involve the entire "church" (which would be a house church at that time, not a large Sunday service in a big building like today). If the person won't even listen to the wisdom of their entire spiritual peer group, then we treat them as a "gentile and tax collector" - whom Jesus also teaches us to love. (More on this below.)

QUESTIONS AND CONCERNS

1. But what if I don't know whether I have a log in my own eye, or if I do, don't know how to remove it? We don't have to do any of this alone. Talk with God in prayer, then talk about it with a trusted spiritual mentor. In fact, in some situations, it might be best to talk to the speck-eye person about your plank-eye problem, and ask for their help to remove it. Then, hopefully, they will be more receptive when you also point out their speck.

2. But what about those sinned against? Where are they in this process? The person or people sinned against are the ones initiating the plank-eye-process, or at the very least, invited into it. If they are unable to participate (because of absence, age, or trauma), then we do so on their behalf if not alongside them.

3. But what if children are involved? Obviously, Jesus is having an adult conversation with his adult followers. Other principles will come into play when children are involved. Still, as parents, we can teach this principle to our children and help them practice it with siblings in the faith.

4. But what if the sin is a crime? Then we should also report it to the authorities. But this should not be used as our excuse to abandon the plank-eye process. While our earthly kingdom works out issues of justice, our job is to manifest mercy so that the sinning sister or brother can be restored and our family of faith can heal. If your actual family member whom you love went to jail, and they were truly repentant and remorseful, hopefully you would still love them, visit them, and get ready to welcome them home when they get out.

5. But what about issues of safety and mental health? This is important and should drive us to ask HOW (not IF) we should practice the plank-eye process in these situations. The support of others, use of proxies, and other circles of support and accountability are all options worth exploring in some situations. Rather than give up just because a particular case becomes complicated, let's keep applying the principles of Jesus to any and every situation. We can do this.

6. But what if the sinning sister or brother apologizes, yet doesn't see their sin the same way we do? Jesus keeps the actual confrontation process simple. In Matthew 18, Jesus says that we are just looking for signs that the sinning sister or brother has listened to us, really heard us, and apologized. That's it. That's all. There ain't no more. (Remember from our last study: Love "believes all things, hopes all things", that is, gives someone's heart the benefit of the doubt.) If they know they have sinned and want to make it right, that is enough. Beyond that we should remove all stumbling blocks to repentance. Sometimes today we demand unbiblical hoop-jumping before we deem someone worthy of our forgiveness and restoration. We insist they do penance to prove it, or we demand they use the same words we do to label their sin. (I have read numerous debates about whether we should call King David's sin with Bathsheba "adultery" or "abuse", but I am reminded that David just called it "sin" and that was enough for God and God's people.) All legalism, including word-legalism, has no place in this process of mercy and grace and healing and wholeness. It should be enough if they see that they have "sinned" or failed or done something wrong in need of repentance and forgiveness. (How strange it would be if Peter fell on his face before the resurrected Jesus and cried over his sin of denying Christ, and Jesus said, "Well actually, I would like to you use the word 'betrayal' rather than 'denial' because of how deeply you hurt me and until you use the right word I won't accept your apology because it shows you don't take your sin seriously.") Jesus calls us away from any hoops or hurdles we put in the way of someone's journey back into repentant righteous fellowship.

7. But what if the sinning sister or brother won't listen to us at all? Jesus knows this will sometimes happen. And he says their soul is worth fighting for, which means trying to reach them in person multiple times with different variations of people. In the end, if after multiple attempts they still refuse to listen, if they refuse to reconsider, we ask them to leave our fellowship for a season. This is our way of saying "We love you, we aren't giving up on you, and we hope that a kind of time-out from regular fellowship will help you see how serious a problem this is." At some point, the Church must refuse to be an enabler, a "den of thieves" where robbers go to hideout. Even then, we keep tabs on the person to care for them while they are isolated from the larger family of faith (compare 1 Corinthians 5 with 2 Corinthians 2:5-11). We do not write them off - that's not how we treat family. That's not even how we treat "gentiles and tax collectors" (Matthew 18:17). We love them, even if we aren't as close to them.

8. But what if I'm not close enough to the person to talk to them face-to-face. Then sit down and shut up. If it's a crime, report it. If it's destroying your church, talk to your church leaders. Otherwise don't spread gossip about an issue you are too distant to discern or get involved with. No one needs to hear your self-righteous pontificating, online or otherwise, about a person you are not in contact with who is involved in a situation you know less about than you realize. Sit this one out. When you hear about someone's failure, pray. The end.

Sometimes we ask these kinds of questions from a sincere desire to understand Jesus accurately so we can follow Jesus passionately. But beware. Sometimes our brains generate an endless number of questions and concerns on this and other topics because subconsciously we just don't want to follow Jesus' teaching. There is a clarity, purity, and power in Jesus' instruction on confrontation, forgiveness, and restoration that can seem almost threatening to us sometimes. And so our minds go to work finding questions, concerns, and objections that make it feel too complex, convoluted, and downright complicated to actually live out.

So watch out. This may be the log in your own eye - a tendency to make excuses why you don't follow Jesus on this point while you simultaneously judge others who fail to follow Jesus in different ways.

Perhaps we should all write on our mirrors: WARNING: Your own issues may be larger than they appear.

CONFESSION

(Personal reflection)

I don't have anything to confess on this topic. I'm good. It's the rest of you who are screwed up.

(Insert winky emoji here.)

Okay, restart....

I confess that I have lived, sometimes for years at a time, with a log in my eye. I have tried to help others follow Jesus, including trying to help them with their bits of sawdust, all the while being blind (or in denial) about my own timber troubles. I have been a hypocrite.

I need the support of a surrounding community of compassion that will help me continually check my blind spots. Because I suck at the plank-eye process. I am actually bad at both ends of it, failing to self-assess humbly and failing to help others lovingly. I am terrible at initiating difficult conversations. I prefer to talk about someone when they fail rather than talk to them.

I admire those of you who are good at this process and I have loads to learn from you. Over the years, I have benefitted from sisters and brothers who have spoken to me about issues in my life and yet have done so gently, kindly, graciously, making it harder for me to become defensive. These gifted friends make rebuke and repentance a beautiful thing.

As for me, I'm still figuring all this out.

I remember a time someone came to me to tell me that they had become aware that a person in our church was sinning in a particular way. I asked them if they had talked to that person, and they hadn't. I asked if they were planning to talk to them, and they weren't. I offered to help them, but they wouldn't accept my help because, according to them, it was too complicated. So I asked how they knew, and they traced a line of gossip that included a chain of about four people before it finally got to them. I asked if I had their permission to talk to the person who talked to them so I could then talk to the person who talked to that person, so I could then talk to the person who talked that person, so I could eventually talk to the source of the concern. Then maybe I could offer my support to that first person who had originally observed something and expressed concern so I could help them practice the plank-eye process. But the person who had come to me said no, because if the person who talked to them found out they talked to me, then that person would be upset and feel like trust had been broken. So finally I asked if they were okay with me just going directly to the (allegedly) sinning brother to talk to him, but this person was concerned that this would eventually expose the fact that they had spoken to me and trust had been broken and a bunch of people would get upset with them. So I asked them what they wanted me to do with the information they had just given me, and they had no answer. So I told them to drop it, stop ruminating on something you won't act on, pray for the person, and otherwise shut-up. Note: Everyone in this line of communication thought they were expressing genuine concern which felt like they were being helpful, yet not one of them had actually been helpful.

I still don't know if I did the right thing, if I handled the situation rightly, but I tried. I'm doing this plank-eye-process imperfectly, poorly even. But I don't want to give up on this important community healing and soul salvaging teaching of Jesus.

CONCLUSION

(One last thought)

We'll let the apostle Paul sum up this study:

I am not conscious of anything against me, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God. ~ The apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 4:4-5)

CONTEMPLATE

(Scripture passages that relate to and deepen our understanding of this topic)

Matthew 18; Luke 18:9-14; Galatians 6:1-2; James 3:9-13

CONVERSATION

(Talk together, learn together, grow together)

1. What is God revealing to you about himself through this passage?

2. What is God showing you about yourself through this passage?

3. What experience have you had with the plank-eye-process in your life?

4. What is one thing you can think, believe, or do differently in light of what you are learning?

5. What questions are you still processing about this topic?

CALL TO ACTION

(Ideas for turning talk into walk)

1. Repent. Have you judged someone inappropriately online or in person or even just in your heart? If you know them, apologize. If you don't, talk to God about it.

2. Ask for help. Do you have a habit of sharing your negative opinions of people, even just famous people (politicians, pastors, authors, actors, musicians, etc.) like it is normal conversation? Talk to someone you trust and ask them to hold you accountable to change. Pray together and give them permission to mention it to you when they notice you slipping back. A critical spirit is a hard habit to break, but following the way of Jesus is worth it.

3. Care enough to confront. Is there someone in your life that you see walking down a wrong path? Practice the plank-eye process. Don't judge them, but do ask if you can come alongside them to help.

4. Meditate on the Golden Rule. Read Matthew 7:12 and ask God to help you apply it to the issue of judging. Use your imagination to envision a better way of living and loving your friends, family, and neighbours.

5. Listen and reflect. Pay attention to your own heart and what God might be showing you as you listen to this song.