Full Question
Jesus says in Matthew 7:3, “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?” What does he mean?
Answer
What Jesus means is that we tend to see the faults of others without recognizing that we are guilty of much greater faults. The Greek word for “faults” when applied to others is karphos, which means literally “speck” or “small splinter” in the sense of a dry particle of sawn wood. When Jesus refers to the “log” that is in the eye of the one doing the judging, the Greek word is dokon, which means literally a “beam of wood.” Jesus is clearly drawing a distinction between the gravity of the fault of the one whom we’re judging and the gravity of our own fault. Jesus points this out in order to teach us that we must first take care to rid ourselves of own faults before we can begin to help others rid themselves of theirs.
***This content was originally published on October 11, 2017 at www.catholic.com.