My mom and I were having a conversation the other day. Nothing unusual about that at all as we talk every day. Multiple times a day, as a matter of fact. Towards the end of the conversation, she told me she had read my post earlier in the morning. With much hesitation, she also told me she thought there was a mistake, as I had repeated a sentence twice, one paragraph apart.
I pulled it up quickly while she was still with me and said, “You are right” and proceeded to make the necessary correction. She apologized for pointing it out although I assured her, I most appreciated her doing so.
I always try to proofread my posts carefully and multiple times. It is amazing how grammatical errors and typos can get by even the most careful of eyes. It is not unusual for me to read it even a day later and make a change or correction.
As I was processing the correction, these were the words which gently went through my thoughts …
“And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye, then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.” (Matthew 7:3-5, NLT)
We can so magnify the faults of others to heights unreal while at the same time overlooking our own shortcomings. I don’t think Jesus was concerned about actual pieces of dust, splinters, or wood in our eyes. He was making the point of how often we criticize others when we ourselves have much more serious issues in our own lives.
Much the same way I could not detect my writing error, we are often blind to our own faults and shortcomings. We are blind to ourselves. Only as we permit the Holy Spirit to reveal our logs will we ever truly see them. And only with the Holy Spirit’s help will we ever overlook the specks in the lives of those around us. May those specks cause us to pray for others. And for our own logs as well.
Here’s the funny thing I realized about specks and logs ….
They are usually made of the same stuff.
Today I am joining with … Tell His Story and Three Word Wed. and Wedded Wed. and Wed. Prayer Girls and Works For Me and A Little R & R and Whimsical Wed. .
How true we get caught up in other people’s mistakes! Thank you for this analogy that I, as a writer, can totally relate to. Blessings! Visiting from #tellhisstory
So glad you could relate as well & it isn’t just me π Thank you for the visit π
oh, I love that you shared the specks and logs are made up of the same stuff! π I love also, that you were able to be encouraged by your mother’s direction. It is hard to edit our own writing and so many times when I post something less than perfect it tends to be that speck that becomes a log. π It is good to have those who can gently direct us and refine us.
Blessings!
Dawn
Dawn, I am blessed to have a mom who has always offered encouragement even in correction. And you are so right – perfection can become a log. Oh that we would not let it be so. Thank you for sharing!
Love this post. It’s a great analogy. I used to be a tech writer and we never edited our own stuff. Now I seem to make the most mistakes…how does that happen? I’ve just given it to God and aging, ha ha.
Kim, how very interesting that as a tech writer you did not edit your own stuff. It has to be that our mistakes are hardest for us to see. Aging or not π