Tripping Over the Obvious

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? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

--Matthew 7:4-5 (NIV)

One of my sinful attitudes is that I expect people to behave in ways that even I am incapable of doing. I was particularly bad at this during my first year of marriage. I put unreasonable expectations on my husband when it came to how often I thought he should pitch in with the dishes or the chores. I expected him to volunteer to clean up; far be it from me to be the first one to start rinsing the dishes!

I realized that such an attitude was going to undermine my marriage if I didn't take action. In the years since, God has taught me a lot about my hypocrisy, and often reminds me that there are bigger things to worry about in myself than in my husband. That lesson hit me quite literally in the middle of the night last week.

Brad had put away his folded laundry, but I had yet to take care of min. For days I told him that I was going to put away "tomorrow." I didn't keep my word, so as a reminder, he put the basket squarely in the entryway of the bathroom. For almost 2 days I stepped over it, around it, and even kicked it aside. That night, as I fumbled through the darkness on my way to get a glass of water, I tripped over the laundry basket.

I emptied the laundry basket first thing the next morning.

Unless we take the necessary steps to identify our own sinful behavior, we have no business pointing out the errors in judgment our brothers and sisters make. Spiritually speaking, it is in our best interest to deal with our obvious flaws, before they trip us up, or cause us to fall.

Reflecting Pool:

What sinful behavior do you notice in others, but ignore in yourself?

How does hypocrisy cause you to trip or even fall?