When the Mirror Speaks – Seeing Specs through Logs.

When the Mirror Speaks
Prepared and shared by Pastor Calvin Cook
August 6, 2025

Scripture: “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? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?” Matthew 7:3-4 (NIV)

Have you ever caught yourself grumbling about someone being late, only to be the one running behind a few days later? Or perhaps you’ve criticized someone for interrupting, only to realize you often do the same? It’s uncomfortable, isn’t it — that moment when the very behavior we can’t stand in others suddenly shows up in the way we live our life.

This is a struggle with hypocrisy and being a hypocrite. I’m always amazed at those who accuse others of being a hypocrite , — maybe not the blatant hateful way, but in a subtle way that sneaks into our hearts when we forget that we too are flawed and have some issues in our own life to address.

Jesus, in His Sermon on the Mount, was teaching that the “plank” in our own eye represents those areas in our own life we fail to see, because we are so busy judging and condemning others. It is so much easier to look at others flaws without seeing our own.
It’s much easier to point fingers than to self-reflect. But the gospel calls us to do the hard and holy work of looking inward first. The truth is, what bothers us in others often mirrors something in ourselves. The realism happens when we look in a mirror as a beautiful princess waiting to see a beautiful reflection only to see a monster looking back at us. That is if we are honest and not blinded by ourselves.

The apostle Paul echoes this in Romans 2:1: “You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.”

So how do we respond?

With humility.

With self-awareness.

With grace — the kind we want others to give us.

Let’s ask God to reveal the hidden places in us that need His refining love. Let’s stop the cycle of criticism and start cultivating compassion.

Prayer: Lord, open my eyes to the ways I judge others for the very things I struggle with. Give me a heart of humility and the courage to grow. Help me to be gracious, just as You are gracious with me. In Jesus’ name, Amen