For reflection:
- Why is it so much easier to recognize the speck in another’s eye than in our own?
- Have you found yourself judging and condemning others before? Have you felt judged or condemned by others? How did you feel after?
- Can you think of a time where you’ve held others to a different or higher standard than you held yourself?
- In the metaphor, why is it important that we are discussing something in our eye?
- What are some signs that we may have “eye logs” of our own?
- Are you more likely to judge a person or a situation? Why?
- What would choosing compassion over judgment look like to you?
- Why do you think Christians are more known for being judgmental than being compassionate?
Digging Deeper:
- Jesus sometimes says some pretty judgmental things, even calling people a brood of vipers and whitewashed tombs. How do we reckon those words of Jesus with His teaching on judging others?
- We often hear Proverbs 27:17 as a call to keep our brothers accountable but in reading the words of Jesus, what can we take from the second half of verse 17? How does it change the typical reading of the first half to match more what Jesus is saying about specks and logs?
- Minding our own business will reveal our real selves. Later in Matthew (7:23) we read that Jesus ‘never knew’ the inquiring follower. How does our learning of our true self help prepare us to be known by Jesus in this context?