Examine Yourselves

26 Jul Examine Yourselves

Scripture Text: 2 Corinthians 13:5

(5) Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith, prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?

Scripture Text: Matthew 7:3-5

(3) And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

(4) Or how will thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?

(5) Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.

Let’s not be so quick to examine our Christian brother and sister’s lives when we should be examining ourselves, our own lives. Examining our selves helps us in our walk with God. It helps us to see ourselves. It helps us in how we relate to others and relate to God. Consider what Jesus said in Matthew 7:3-5, let’s examine ourselves to see if we have beams that need to be cast out of our own eyes. Are we looking at others and comparing them to where we may be in the Lord? Are we trying to make them fit the mold of where we think they should be in the Lord? Are we treating them impatiently or even cynically? If so, then we will not be in any position to “help” them.

A mote is a tiny piece of a substance, something almost insignificant. A beam is a long sturdy object, usually meant for support. A mote is something that can disappear just as suddenly as it appeared. Not so with a beam. To remove a support beam, you must first ascertain what it is that is being supported or held in place. A beam supports a certain structure. Therefore, it is impossible for the person with the beam in their own eye to clearly see or be looking at possible faults in their brother or sister’s eye until an excavation, done by self-examination, prayer and fasting takes place.

Self-examination is needed to see what kind of experience we have been building. Have we been building in the faith, or have we been building in self, building up our own way of “looking” at things? Examine yourself!