I’ve been trying a prayer experiment lately. Whenever I start to get annoyed with my kids or my spouse I pray, Show me the plank in my own eye, Lord (from Luke 6:42).
Don’t try this. I mean, don’t try it unless you want results. God will answer promptly, and you will see your weaknesses in Technicolor. What’s more, you’ll start to notice how quickly your gaze turns away from your own faults to resume its focus on someone else’s.
On the plus side, you will discover that Luke 6:42 isn’t only about improving our ability to remove specks from the eyes of others. It’s also about improving how clearly we see God. For when we start to tear down the fence that those planks of fault-finding have erected in our hearts, amazing new sight-lines open up. And then, once we can see clearly, what we behold is God’s love and infinite mercy.
