The Log in Your Eye

Colleen Jurkiewicz Dorman • February 27, 2025
A shovel is sitting in the middle of a pile of dirt.

Today’s Gospel is a big favorite of non-Christians — or Christians who don’t like being told what to do.

 

That trusty ol’ remove the wooden beam from your own eye line is a classic. Mind your business, Christians! You’re not perfect either.

 

And that’s entirely true. None of us are perfect. We’ve all got logs in our eyes. We can’t approach life acting like we have the answers simply because we follow Jesus.

 

Jesus has the answers, and we have Jesus.

 

The real problem with having someone remove a splinter from my eye, if he himself has a log in his eye, is not that he has no business removing the splinter from my eye. It’s that he can’t see clearly to do it. His own eyesight is occluded.

 

If we see a splinter in another person’s eye, or a problem in the world that needs to be fixed, or a scandal in the community that should be addressed, what Jesus is saying is not that we should ignore it and move on. He’s merely saying that, when we see these things, we must take them first as a challenge to examine ourselves. To address the problem as it exists within our own souls, so that we ensure we are seeing clearly. Then, if we reach out to pluck the splinter, we will do so with clear eyesight.

 

He wants us to worry as much about our own souls as we do about other people’s.

 

We tend to look at the world and feel anxious — so much evil! So much hate! So much sin! We pray, God, when will you change it?

 

And He whispers back: I will change it here. Now. In your own heart. You just have to ask.

 

©LPi

Share

You might also like

LPi Blog

Brown leather armchair in a room with hardwood floors and a white wall.
By Colleen Jurkiewicz Dorman September 4, 2025
Jesus knew that hate is a really strong word. It’s a word that gets people’s attention. And I think what he wants to do today, more than anything, is get our attention.
Woman inside a church looking at her phone. The screen reads
August 28, 2025
Optimizing your parish's site for mobile navigation doesn’t have to be difficult or confusing, but it does have to be done! Learn how (and why) inside.
Woman works at a desk, holding a child with a teddy bear. Both are indoors, in a well-lit room.
By Colleen Jurkiewicz Dorman August 28, 2025
I think, if we’re being really honest, we all expect “payment” for being a good person. We want God to give us what we ask. We want people to treat us a certain way.
More Posts