The Plank-Eye Epidemic

It has troubled the planet from the beginning of time, but it seems to be more epidemic of late. It’s a terrible vision problem that damages the mind and eventually affects the heart. 

Unfortunately, most folks who have it are in denial and never get the help they need. 

What is it? 

It’s plank-eye disease described in Matthew 7:3-4: “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?”  

It comes from overlooking our own sins and concentrating hypocritically on the sins of others. It causes us to lose perspective of the truth.

The cure: 
Listen for God's conviction and genuinely repent of our sins. Only then will we “see clearly” enough to deal with our own sins and help others deal with theirs (Matthew 7:5; Galatians 6:1). 

Bible Study 

1. The passage below describes the Pharisees' hypocrisy using a different analogy.

Matthew 23:25-26: “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and self-indulgence! 26 You blind Pharisee! First wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will become clean, too. 

The Pharisees thought themselves “clean” because they looked good on the outside, but their hearts were filled with hypocritical judgment and sin. 

2. We can avoid self-righteousness and hypocrisy by viewing ourselves honestly. 

Romans 12:3: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.

3. Like King David, we must understand how much God values genuine repentance.

This is part of the psalm David wrote after God punished him for his sins with Bathsheba and Uriah:

Psalm 51:16-17: You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.17 My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise. 

The root word for the Hebrew word "contrite" (dakah) means "crushed." David understood the crushing blow his sins had on his well-being and how they hurt the heart of God.

copyright 2017, Gail Burton Purath, BiteSizeBibleStudy.com