The phrase “take the plank out of your own eye” comes from Matthew 7:3-5 in the Bible, where Jesus says:
“Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”
This teaching is often referred to as “taking the plank out of your own eye.” The basic meaning is that we should focus on our own faults, rather than being overly critical of others.
In this passage, Jesus uses hyperbole (intentional exaggeration) to make his point. He compares minor faults in others to a “speck” – a tiny splinter or fleck of sawdust that gets in your eye and irritates it. In contrast, he compares our own faults to a “log” or “plank” – a huge beam of wood.
His point is that it’s foolish and hypocritical to focus on minor flaws in other people while ignoring or downplaying major faults in ourselves. We tend to minimize or rationalize our own sins and shortcomings and magnify the sins of others. Jesus is saying we should have the opposite attitude – be lenient and gracious in our judgment of others, while rigorously examining our own hearts and lives.
Before trying to fix other people and point out their minor flaws, we should focus on dealing with our own major faults and blind spots. We have to get the log out of our own eye before we can see clearly to help with the speck in someone else’s eye. The principle is about self-examination, integrity, and humility.
Some key lessons we can take from this teaching:
- We are often blind to our own faults. We tend to ignore or justify our own sins but zero in on the failings of others. We need humility and honesty in assessing ourselves.
- Dealing with our own sins should take priority over fixing others. Personal repentance comes before confronting others.
- A critical and condemning attitude is usually unwise and hypocritical. Criticism should always begin with self-critique.
- No one is perfect. We all have flaws and failings. Gracious love should temper our judgment of others.
- When we have dealt thoroughly with our own sin, we can help others out of love, humility, wisdom, and integrity.
1. We are often blind to our own faults
One of the major points Jesus is making here is that we are often oblivious and blind to our own faults and sins. We tend to minimize, rationalize, excuse, and justify our own wrong attitudes and behaviors. We brush our own sins under the rug or compare ourselves to even worse sinners to make ourselves feel better (Luke 18:11).
Our own faults are often like a huge blind spot or a plank jammed in our eye that we can’t even see clearly. Psychologists call this lack of self-awareness the blind spot bias. Meanwhile, we zero in on even the smallest faults of others, which seem to us like specks in their eyes.
Jesus’ hyperbole of the plank versus the speck is meant to prick our consciences and make us realize how self-unaware and hypocritical we often are. This matches other Bible passages about self-deception:
“Love covers over a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8).
“Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?” (Matthew 7:3).
“The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).
So the first lesson here is our need for humility and honesty in assessing our own hearts and lives. We need God’s help through His Word, His Spirit, and trusted Christian friends to make us aware of blind spots, rationalizations, and “planks” we have been ignoring.
2. Dealing with our own sins should take priority over fixing others
A second crucial lesson here is that dealing with our own sins and faults should take priority over trying to fix other people and point out their comparatively minor issues. Jesus tells us to “first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye” (Matthew 7:5).
The principle is that personal repentance should come before confronting the faults of others. As the old saying goes, “People living in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.” We undermine our credibility and witness if we confront others while ignoring major issues in our own lives.
Jesus is not saying we should never gently and lovingly confront a brother or sister about a sin issue. But we need to wait until we have first searched our own hearts, confessed our own sins, and experienced God’s merciful cleansing, forgiveness, and spiritual transformation.
“Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone…” (John 8:7).
In summary, self-examination takes precedence over scrutiny of others. Personal repentance comes before rebuking others. And removing the log from our own eye prepares the way for then ministering to the speck in a brother’s eye – done in humility, wisdom, and love.
3. A critical and condemning attitude is unwise and hypocritical
A third crucial insight here is that a overly critical, judgmental, condemning attitude toward others is usually unwise, unfair, and hypocritical. Jesus reserves some of his strongest rebukes for the overly judgmental Pharisees (Matthew 23).
As Jesus powerfully illustrates with the hyperbole of logs and specks, criticism of others is almost always hypocritical if we do not first search our own hearts. This matches several other Bible passages:
“Judge not, that you be not judged…” (Matthew 7:1).
“Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another?” (Romans 14:4).
Rather than constantly zeroing in on the faults of others, the Bible encourages us to be patient and gracious in our judgment, leaving final judgment to God:
“Love is patient and kind…it is not rude or self-seeking; it keeps no record of wrongs” (1 Corinthians 13:4-5).
“Mercy triumphs over judgment” (James 2:13).
The principle we see in Jesus’ teaching is that criticism should always begin with self-critique. We need humility and integrity in dealing with our own logs before we can help others with their specks. As Jesus said, “let him who is without sin cast the first stone” (John 8:7).
4. No one is perfect – we all have flaws and failings
A fourth insight relates to how we view others. The Bible makes clear that no human being except Jesus is without fault and failure to some degree. Romans 3:23 emphasizes that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” 1 John 1:8 adds, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves.”
With a humble view of our shared human imperfection, offenses become more understandable and forgivable. As we recognize that behind every speck are logs of our own, gracious love should temper harsh condemnation of others.
As Jesus taught in places like Matthew 18 and Luke 6, our attitude should be one of gentleness and patience, not judgment and wrath. God graciously forgives the massive logs in our eyes; how much more then should we graciously love those with specks?
“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32).
So again, the plank metaphor reminds us that since no one is perfect, gracious love and patience should temper our judgment of others’ faults and failings.
5. When we deal thoroughly with our sin, we can help others in love
Does “take the plank out of your own eye” mean we can never address sin issues in others? No, Jesus is not ruling out loving confrontation done in the right spirit. His main point is that we are unfit to help others until we have thoroughly searched our own hearts and lives and dealt with our own sins through repentance.
But once we have removed the plank from our own eye through honest self-examination and God’s grace, then we can “see clearly” to gently remove the speck from a brother’s eye. We are able then to restore others in a spirit of humility, integrity, wisdom, and patience.
The teaching does not prohibit mutual accountability within the body of Christ, but rather provides principles for how to go about it in a loving, gracious way that prioritizes self-examination over criticism, repentance over judgmentalism, patience over condemnation.
Paul includes self-examination as part of the Lord’s Supper tradition:
“A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup” (1 Corinthians 11:28).
And he writes that through love and humility we can sometimes gently restore a sinning brother:
“Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness” (Galatians 6:1).
So in summary, the plank metaphor is a vital principle for self-examination and integrity. When applied humbly and lovingly, it enhances our ability to gently minister to others.
6. Practical application
How can we apply Jesus’ teaching to take the plank out of our own eye in practical ways?
- Ask God to reveal blind spots and rationalizations we are unaware of.
- Study God’s Word regularly for insight and conviction about sin (Psalm 119:11; Hebrews 4:12).
- Pursue accountability relationships with mature Christians who can act as loving mirrors.
- Cultivate humility and teachability, being quick to listen and slow to speak critically (James 1:19).
- Focus first on confessing our own sins rather than the sins of others.
- Act in love – “love covers over a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8).
- When we address issues in others, do so with wisdom, kindness and patience.
- Remember that obedience and repentance are more important than fixation on other’s faults.
- Keep our eyes on Jesus as the ultimate model of grace in dealing with sinners (Matthew 9:10-13).
In summary, taking the plank out of our own eye involves humility, integrity, wisdom, love, and dependence on God’s grace. This enables us to treat others with the same grace that we have received in Christ (Colossians 3:12-13).
7. A mindset of grace and humility
Ultimately, taking the plank out of our own eye involves cultivating an attitude and mindset of humility, grace, and dependence on God. It’s less about piling up a list of dos and don’ts, and more about nurturing a humble heart.
We can’t always predict how specific situations will unfold. But we can pray for the fruit of the Spirit – “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23) – to grow in us by God’s grace. We can seek the mindset of Christ described in Philippians 2:3-4:
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”
So taking the plank out involves regular heart-searching, clinging to the cross, walking in the Spirit, and nurturing love and humility with God’s help. Our model is Jesus who was condemned as a lawbreaker, yet who graciously told the woman caught in adultery, “Then neither do I condemn you… Go now and leave your life of sin” (John 8:11).
When we reflect His grace and humility, we become fit vessels to help gently restore others. May God grow in all of us the mindset, mercy, and love portrayed in this vivid metaphor from the words of Jesus!