Judge Yourself First

There will be times when we need to confront others in love, or to restore those who have fallen. But what we must do in those times is judge ourselves first.

Either how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother's eye.
- Luke 6:42

Even after we are saved, we have the ability to detect faults in others easily, often while excusing our own. But just as clearly as we can see wrong in others, they can see it in us. So before we can remove a splinter out of someone else’s eye, we must get the log out of our own eye. Our Lord is clearly using humor here, but He is telling us to judge ourselves first. This means to examine our own behaviors, attitudes, and motives before approaching someone else to admonish or to restore them. And we should certainly pray before doing so.