41 "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? 42 How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.
In the above verses, Jesus is working on our hypocrisy. Isn’t it easy for us to spot flaws (specks) in others while paying no attention to the elephants (planks) in our own lives? We can be so soft on ourselves can’t we? If we truly want to impact others lives, encouraging them to walk like Jesus, then we too should be seeking to walk like Jesus - searching our own hearts and asking the Spirit to point out wickedness and give us the power to change. David writes in Psalm 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalms 139:23-24 (NIV)
Interestingly, the term “offensive way” actually means “the way of pain”. Anytime we are off course with the Lord, going our own way, it is the way of pain. Likewise, we should beseech the Lord’s searching of our own hearts that we also, may change (repent) and not go the way of pain. The word rendered “look” in verse 41 is the Greek word “Blepo” meaning to look, see, take care, and watch; to stare, gawk or gape at connoting fixation while “pay no attention to” denotes lack of consideration, observation or contemplation. How like us to focus with fixed interest on the failings of others and not stop to consider our own weaknesses! Jesus calls this a hypocrite – someone who is counterfeit, a feigned character, and a pretender. May that definition not be found following our names! It is very important how we choose to live. We are told in Scripture: 5 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. 6 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. Col 4:5-6 (NIV)
15 Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. Eph 5:15-17 (NIV) 10 Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. 11 And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature. Romans 13:9-14 (NIV)
In Surprised By Joy, C.S. Lewis paints a vivid description of what he found when he examined his own heart: “A zoo of lusts, a bedlam of ambitions, a nursery of fears and a harem of fondled hatreds.” I would say that that was some powerful and honest searching! Are we willing to discover what lies within our own hearts so that we may repent and be conformed to the image of God’s Son? This, my friends, is the non-hypocritical way of the cross. This is what followers of Christ are called to. Alas,9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? 10 "I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve." Jer 17:9-10 (NIV)
“I never have difficulty believing in miracles, since I experienced the miracle of a change in my own heart.” Augustine