Matthew 7:4, commentary and pictures

The verse contrasts a small fault in a brother with a far greater fault in one's own eye, exposing the inconsistency of offering to remove his mote while a beam remains unremoved. It commands first removing the beam by honest self-examination, confession, reform and cleansing of heart, and only then will one see clearly to help the brother. The beam is the censorious, condemning, cold, critical and unforgiving spirit of selfishness, jealousy, envy, evil surmising and pride, which is greater sin than the fault criticized. Correction of the erring is still required, but it must be done plainly yet ever with pitying tenderness, humility, mercy, patience and love, considering one's own weakness and comforting when error is acknowledged. With what judgment judgment is given it will be judged and measured again, so one who condemns others while doing the same things condemns himself before God.

Words and Setting

The question pictures a person with a great fault of his own offering to pull a small fault out of his brother, and exposes the inconsistency and hypocrisy of trying to correct the smaller fault while the greater remains unaddressed. Only after the greater fault is removed can a person see clearly to help his brother, for one who overlooks his own beam has no standing to correct his brother's mote.

The mote is little differences, small mistakes and minor matters in a brother, with the good in him overlooked, while the beam is the critic's own diseased tongue and intemperance in speech. That beam magnifies the small mistakes by thinking and talking about them until they grow larger each time and a mountain is made out of a molehill, producing ill feeling, lack of confidence, separation of friends and loss of joy, which is doing the devil's drudgery. The remedy commanded is first to cure the tongue by earnest determination and prayer, to discipline speech to cement hearts and heal rather than estrange and wound, and to pass over little differences and mistakes without comment. Making a world of a mote by dwelling on a minor objection to criticize or obstruct, and making great account of small things like dress, little acts and words unworthy of notice with many irritated words, is the greater sin when the reprover is more faulty in many things, and a holy example is the greatest corrector of such small things.

The beam is the censorious, condemning, cold, critical and unforgiving spirit developed in doing that un-Christlike work, and in comparison with the fault criticized it is as a beam to a mote. It includes selfishness, jealousy, envy, evil surmising, evil speaking, false witness, hatred, pride, love of authority, desire for preeminence, suspicion, haughtiness and a disposition to censure and revile, and the critic who cherishes it is guilty of greater sin than the one accused, for he adds conceit and censoriousness to the same sin. Such eagerness to discern a defect and zeal to point it out comes from lack of forbearance and love that makes a world of an atom, from never having experienced the contrition of entire surrender to Christ, and from mistaking evil-mindedness and Satan's accusing spirit for special foresight, discernment and wisdom from above. Instead of drawing near to resolve the difficulty, this spirit magnifies mistakes to excuse harshness, misrepresents matters, shuts the heart, clothes Satan's attributes with righteousness, defiles the soul with bitterness, creates division, shuts the accuser from light, and leaves him to walk in sparks of his own kindling while wounding precious souls and misrepresenting the gentle, courteous spirit of the gospel.

In one application the mote is earthly riches and earthly concerns that obscure spiritual vision, and Christ removes that obstruction so the person can see clearly. Thus cleared, the person beholds eternal glory, recognizes eternal realities instead of mistaking wealth for true riches, and pursues lasting treasure.

The very act of discovering the mote is the sign of the beam. Being swift to discern defects, watchful for faults, sharp to detect a mote and zealous to point it out evidences blindness to one's own greater faults and lack of forbearance, love and entire surrender to Christ. Educating the mind to look for defects unfits the soul for communion with God, removes safeguards from conscience, leaves the soul unguarded, develops in the looker the very defects looked for until evil habit becomes chains of steel and a leaven destroying freedom and sanctification, with facts registered in heaven that would alarm him if seen. An unsanctified heart kept from submission to the Spirit cannot see beyond personal judgments or represent Christ, and claims of spiritual discernment while failing to recognize one's own sin are self-deception.

The saying was spoken in the Sermon on the Mount, taught not only to disciples but to multitudes in ignorance and error to uplift all who came. Its aim was to undo false education and give a right conception of the kingdom and character of Christ by teaching something infinitely better than had been known and by telling the conditions of entrance, leaving hearers to draw their own conclusions without direct attack or vivid delineation of wretchedness on account of sin. Its foundation principles are no less important now and still need to be learned. Its instruction must reach the heart because the heart governs life and character, it contradicted the doctrines, traditions and self-righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees who misrepresented God and taught human traditions as commandments, and failing to walk in given light brings darkness in proportion to neglected light.

Examine Self First

Offering to draw a small fault out of a brother while a far greater fault remains in one's own eye is inconsistent and hypocritical, and the command is to first remove one's own fault and only then will one see clearly to help remove the fault from the brother. That first removal is honest self-examination, confession, reform, and cleansing of heart and character. Haughtiness, suspicion, and lack of confidence toward fellow workers must be put away in that work, and instead of condemning the erring, sincere sympathy is owed as they seek to recover. The judgment used upon others will be applied in return, and one who condemns others while doing the same things condemns himself before God.

Rightness with God is individual work between God and the person, and each has enough work to do in overcoming personal defects. Each must answer for own light, privileges, and talents entrusted, must attend to the garden of one's own soul, and must seek God's help rather than excuse that work by focusing on another. Watching others for faults and stirring trouble instead of examining one's own heart leaves the soul spiritually neglected and distracts the mind from God. Having so great a burden to correct the wrongs of neighbors and to talk about them leaves no time to search one's own heart and correct one's own wrongs, and it is easy to talk about faults in absence when confronting the person directly would challenge the fault-finder's assumptions. Trying to set others right while neglecting one's own soul is like a slothful servant whose own vines trail on the ground and whose beds are choked with thistles yet offers to set a neighbor's garden in order, or like a worker unlovely in word and action and not circumspect in home life yet trying to correct others, which makes religious profession a farce and leaves no success in saving souls.

The chapter must be studied most critically again and again for personal enlightenment and not to prove faults discerned in others. The defects pointed out in fault-finders are very serious, and unless there are decided conversions, many who think they are lights will prove to be stumbling blocks. Every word of Matthew 7 must be studied as for life together with James 2, James 4:5-12, and James 5:13-20, so that the work given may be known and the needed work may first be done in the heart, without which all directions for outward action are labor in vain.

Self-examination must distrust selfish prejudice and feeling, for these prevent impartial judgment, and a person must distrust self, examine personal imperfections, and practice the words spoken before addressing a brother's faults. Thoughts, feelings, and passions must be brought under the Spirit's control, and feelings, motives, conduct, actions, and motives must be tested by God's law. What must be removed is defilement including selfishness, envy, and jealousy, rather than fixating on another's shortcomings and assuming authority to condemn fellow believers.

Hypocrisy and Faultfinding Exposed

To offer to correct a brother while cherishing suspicion, evil thinking, evil speaking, bitter speech, unjust suspicion, haughtiness and lack of confidence toward fellow workers is hypocrisy, for the verse requires first addressing the greater fault in oneself in order to see clearly enough to help the brother. The beam in this setting is intemperance in speech that magnifies small mistakes instead of thinking of the good in others and passing over little differences without comment, until each time they are thought and talked about they grow larger till a mountain is made out of a molehill. That course separates friends, produces ill feeling and lack of confidence, does the devil's drudgery, drives out joy, divides believers and harms faith, and the cure commanded is to cast out the beam by healing the diseased tongue and speaking only words that cement and heal rather than estrange and wound. Instead of condemning the erring, gratitude for divine kindness should lead to sincere sympathy and concern as they seek to recover, since those who hint and sharply criticize may be blind to their own mistakes. Self-interest and resentment make the small defect appear enormous while the critic stays keen to correct, so attention belongs on one's own shortcomings rather than criticism and accusation.

The verse reproves rash judgment and a censorious spirit that dwells on supposed errors, becoming harsh, self-centered and self-deceived, mistaking imagined slights for real ones, acting on suspicions as facts, misrepresenting matters and wounding precious souls. No one is appointed to make a practice of dwelling on defects, and this warning holds for ministers and members alike, requiring first dealing with one's own faults in order to see clearly before offering correction. One swift to discern a defect and zealous to point it out develops the very censorious, condemning spirit that in comparison with the fault criticized is as beam to mote, born of lack of forbearance and love that makes a world of an atom and of never having known contrition in entire surrender to Christ. Such a one misrepresents the gentle, courteous spirit of the gospel, is guilty of greater sin than the accused by adding conceit and censoriousness to the same sin, and grows increasingly self-deceived and blind while accusing, gossiping about and magnifying others' wrongs instead of repenting. Looking for evil, charging wrong motives and judging others for not meeting one's expectations is contrary to Christ's way, and correction when truly needed must plainly speak truth and facts to make the erring see and reform, yet ever with pitying tenderness and not harshness, considering one's own weakness lest one also be tempted, and when error is seen and acknowledged comfort must be given instead of grieving and pressing the thorn deeper to weaken faith and courage.

Educating the mind to look for defects is itself the sign of the beam, for the very act of discovering the mote reveals it. That habit unfits the soul for communion with God, removes safeguards from conscience, leaves the soul unguarded through failure to overcome, and develops in the looker the very defects looked for until evil habit hardens into chains of steel and works as a leaven destroying freedom and sanctification. Those who do this would be alarmed if they could see the facts registered against them in heaven. Faultfinding unjustly magnifies small matters while assuming one's own way is right, placing the mote so close to the critic's eye that it becomes a mountain shutting out all else, blinding to glory beyond and to how the Lord regards the attitude. Satan distorts sizes so a small fault seems enormous and a great fault small, and self-interest, resentment, envy and jealousy strain judgment, provoke retaliation, wear people down and hinder the work, while goodness and grace shrink from view. Making a world of a mote by dwelling on a minor objection to criticize or obstruct does not glorify God, and tearing down by picking at straws and gathering titbits of evil stands plainly condemned, to be removed as an act of mercy to oneself since spiritual condition depends on submitting to God's will.

Seeing a fault in another should expose the same kind of sin in oneself and prompt self-correction, refusal to imitate the un-Christlike conduct, and pity rather than condemnation, discarding, impatience, malice or accusation. The verse forbids making great account of small things like articles of dress and little acts and words unworthy of notice, spending many words upon them, becoming irritated and arbitrarily bearing down when the reprover is more faulty in many things, which is the greater sin. To condemn a small defect as though a world when it is only an atom, while neglecting important interests, is selfish and partial, and true nobility is not outward refinement joined with such faultfinding but rising above self to set an example of kindness, forbearance, impartial love and help to those in need. A holy example is the greatest corrector of such small things, for without Christ abiding in the heart His softening grace is missing, selfish traits are strengthened and through deception are prized as valuable, and severe justice without mercy is mistakenly thought commendable.

Claiming special discernment, foresight and zeal for truth while accusing, drawing apart, climbing upon the judgment seat and shutting the heart against one supposed to have erred mistakes evil-mindedness and Satan's accusing spirit for wisdom from above. Cherishing unkind thoughts, envyings, evil surmisings, jealousy, pride, a fierce spirit, love of authority, desire for preeminence and a disposition to censure and revile while offering to correct is hypocrisy calling Satan's spirit zeal, lifting up self as faultless while magnifying others' faults in sharp, rasping wickedness lacking patience, kindness, respect, unselfishness, tenderness and love, breaking the law of love and resisting the Spirit through pride that thinks itself above reproof. Such claiming of discernment for faithfulness in righting wrongs and defending truth is not wisdom from above but fruit of a heart needing regeneration, clothing Satan's attributes with righteousness, defiling the soul with roots of bitterness, until Jesus separates and leaves the judger to walk in sparks of his own kindling. The verse lays bare the Pharisaic spirit that readily discerns others' defects and passes condemnation instead of seeking to save the lost, which is the highest service, excusing one's own forbidden actions while magnifying others' faults. It exposes self-deception in those who flatter themselves as exceedingly tender-hearted needing to guard against excess compassion when they greatly need Christ's forbearance themselves, teaching that it is safest to hold modest views of one's virtues and constantly seek perfection of character, examining one's own character and conduct before criticizing. Pointing out another's failures to divert attention from oneself or to appear zealous for God and the church is hypocritical and cruelly damages the one criticized. Watching fellow believers for something to condemn comes from the same spirit that searches for reasons to reject instruction.

Correcting Others Rightly

Correction of one who errs is still required, and faults and facts must be spoken plainly to make the erring see and feel the error so that reform may follow. That plain speaking must ever be with pitying tenderness and not with harshness or severity, with humility, mercy, patience, kindness and love, never with pride, disrespect, censure or reproach that drives from Christ and hardens against conviction. The reprover must remember his own weakness and susceptibility to temptation, consider himself lest he also be tempted, and deal with the brother exactly as he would wish the Lord to deal with his own errors and weaknesses. When the fault is seen and acknowledged, comfort is to be given instead of grieving the one at fault and pressing the thorn deeper to make him feel more intensely and weaken faith, courage and confidence to work. Readiness to help requires humility and willingness to set aside self-dignity, even to lay down life to save the brother, and forbids magnifying another's errors while excusing one's own.

Christ's remedy is to examine and correct self first, for only then can one see clearly to help correct another. Then the brother is to be approached kindly and spoken with directly, giving him a chance to explain, and reconciliation is to be sought directly with the person rather than spreading grievances, suspicions or accusations as though they were truth. Concerns about a member's errors belong to Christ's instruction within the church, not to be made public or circulated in his absence. Watching and criticizing others distracts the mind from God and leaves one's own heart unexamined, since rightness with God is individual work, and it is easy to talk about faults in absence while direct confrontation would challenge the fault-finder's assumptions. Hindrances and bitterness must be removed at their roots, for ignoring this counsel and accusing or condemning fosters contention and estrangement, while following it resolves difficulties faithfully and without harshness and promotes unity, harmony and peace.

The talent of speech must not be abused to stir antagonism and retaliation by criticism and faultfinding that harms the church. The beam is intemperance in speech and a diseased tongue that overlooks the good in the brother, fastens on little differences and small mistakes, and magnifies them by thinking and talking about them until a mountain is made out of a molehill. Each repetition enlarges the matter until it separates friends, produces ill feeling and lack of confidence, does the devil's drudgery, and drives out joy. The duty is first to cure the tongue by earnest determination and prayer, to discipline speech to cement hearts and heal rather than estrange and wound, to pass over little differences and mistakes without comment, and to remain silent when irritated. Correction marked by meekness, mercy and humility, not by judgment and criticism rooted in envy, strife or pride, can then see clearly to help the brother.

No one is appointed to make a practice of dwelling on defects, to sit in judgment over a brother, or to define the character of his sin. Such dwelling becomes harsh and self-centered, mistakes imagined slights for real ones, and acts on suspicions as if they were facts, and correction requires wisdom from God and spiritual growth with self first addressed so as to see clearly. The work of judgment has not been given to any minister or conference president to watch laborers, exercise human judgment over them, dictate to fellows, or embrace too much authority. That setting up of erring man to judge brings confusion, dishonors God, puts the God of power and glory out of sight by glorification of human capabilities, and substitutes man's voice and judgment for God's. Near the close of history God will overturn until man stands in his appointed place, for He is the true Shepherd, and members are to be educated line upon line to look to God for wisdom and counsel.

Those who would bear responsibility for souls, lead others, exercise authority or teach must first put heart and character in order and gain a daily connection with God. Teachers must become learners in Christ so they can impart what they have received from Him. Those who exercise authority while neglecting serious faults in spirit, speech or conduct are incompetent to deal rightly with others, and without the Holy Spirit they can harm God's people; those who hold truth in the heart will guard themselves and act with meekness and holiness rather than letting unamiable traits shape treatment of others. Only self first examined and corrected gives clear sight enough to help another.

Teaching by one's own example leads others toward better habits better than exposing errors, which can provoke resistance, do more harm than good, and breed a habit of faultfinding in the reprover. Love for Christ helps see the good in others, while faultfinding turns attention from one's own defects and loses sight of God and His likeness. The brother whose faults are watched has been purchased by Christ's blood, so he must be treated with care rather than controlled or diminished.

Judgment Unity and Warning

The judgment used on others will be measured back again, and one who condemns others while doing the same things condemns himself before God and must answer to God for his judging. No one is free to pronounce judgment on a fellow person while blind to greater faults of his own, and being quick to discern a brother's errors often proves blindness to one's own. Another person's wrongdoing never excuses one's own, for each is accountable to God for personal conduct and must be guided by God's principles rather than taking other people as the standard.

Noticing real defects in others does not make one's own judgments or conduct free from fault, and a faultfinder who overlooks greater faults in himself is unfit to correct another. Such seeing and condemning gives no authority to decide who in the church is wheat or tares; each is to represent Jesus by good example instead of dwelling on shortcomings. All are brethren with no respect of persons, so each must guard another's interests, do as he would be done by, and deal with one another exactly as he wishes the Lord to deal with his own errors and weaknesses.

Carrying the burden of correcting everyone else puts a person at a disadvantage and hinders doing his own work nobly and well. Those occupied with weeding others' gardens let precious graces die at home and help turn the church into a body of darkness and death. Continual faultfinding is like buzzards and vultures watching for dead bodies, while the work required is to attend to self alone.

Watching others for faults and stirring trouble instead of examining the heart leaves the soul spiritually neglected, for becoming right with God is individual work. Watching and criticizing distracts the mind from God, leaves the heart unexamined, impairs spiritual sight, and makes it easy to talk about faults in absence that would not stand if faced directly. Early Christians lost the lesson when they dwelt on one another's mistakes and condemned others while forgetting their own errors and brotherly love. At Berrien Springs those most needing cleansing and Christ's righteousness stood accusing brethren, when looking at their own defects with prayer and Christ's intercession would have brought victories.

The warning reaches ministers and church members alike, for no one is appointed to make a practice of dwelling on defects, and each must first address his own faults in order to see clearly. An educator's strain or irritability can distort judgment, magnify a student's error, and produce unjust cutting criticism that pride then refuses to admit. Those who criticize physicians' mistakes must examine their own foolish speech, selfish indulgence, and disregard of health reform, which may reveal more serious spiritual failure than what they condemn. Those who blamed Edson White for financial mismanagement were themselves financially embarrassed in ways not right before God. Ministers who would condemn a fellow worker for theater-going must first search their own hearts and face failures in their own families, such as a daughter left without control to rule the house and a son left to his own way to do as he pleases, and must not judge and destroy another's foundation and courage while blind to their own condition but must put themselves in the other's place with fairness and encouragement. Being quick to find fault with colored brethren and condemn them for failures while cherishing evils and erring in many things is the same hypocrisy, and those with greater advantages and clearer surroundings must instead want them to reach the highest standard, help them, show exact and impartial justice, and show tender compassion, sympathy, and generous consideration rather than censure and separation.

Christians must leave the judgment seat and cease fierce criticism and condemnation of friend or brother, which injures the judge himself and has no place in Christian and medical missionary work, and must instead draw near to Christ as center so that love like His unites them. Tearing down the work in Nashville by picking at straws, gathering titbits of evil, and making mountains out of molehills places the mote so close to the critic's eye that it becomes a mountain hiding the glory beyond and the Lord's view of such faultfinding, which Christ plainly condemns and which can be removed as an act of mercy to the critic whose spiritual condition depends on submission to God's will. Care is required lest a genuine work of the Holy Spirit be condemned as evil. God gives no one the work of watching and talking about faults, misinterpreting words and actions, exaggerating mistakes, and leaving God's workers hopeless when down; instead clear eyesight and unselfish hearts will lift workers when down, see and commend accomplished good, praise God, and bring pity and self-sacrifice so the church becomes the court of holy love by the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Watching a brother who seeks to do the Lord's will in order to make him an offender for a word hinders the work that should advance, and prayer pleases God better than criticism. Instead of faultfinding, slander, tearing down reputation, standing aloof, and spending energy in Satan's cause while grieving the Lord and weakening brethren's hands, each should accuse self rather than brethren, remember he might not have done better in his brother's place, and work to build up not tear down.

Offering to remove the small fault while the great fault remains is hypocrisy that must stop, creating sorrow for households and churches and proving fruitless trees unless criticism and evil thinking cease, personal faults are seen, and faith working by love purifies the soul so the Golden Rule and the narrow way are understood. The beam represents selfishness, jealousy, and an unforgiving spirit that keeps the accuser from drawing near to resolve difficulty, and magnifying another's mistakes to excuse harshness reflects Satan's accusing spirit, creates division, and shuts the accuser from God's light. Talking about grievances and difficulties magnifies them, damages confidence, and weakens struggling faith. The remedy is to turn to God about personal dangers and defects rather than dwelling on fellow workers' errors, address grievances directly with humility and willingness to forgive, humble self before God, let self die, and recognize personal need of forgiveness, which brings hearts together in unity, love, fellowship, and prayer.

In correcting others Christians must beware lest they commit sins equally great, for hatred, emulation, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, and envyings are as truly works of the flesh as lasciviousness, adultery, drunkenness, and murder and will as surely close heaven. Being severe, exacting, censorious, peevish, fretful, and abusive while blind to greater faults, and ministers mixing overbearing commands with teaching the commandments in humility as Christ's ambassadors, leads to errors in judgment and faith, disgusts some till they turn from truth, and throws others into agitation and fear that they cannot please God.

A selfish, exacting, arbitrary disposition censures a brother or sister who deserves censure far less, fails to make compassionate allowance, seeks its own interest and pleasure while showing severity for a supposed wrong or for not meeting its own ideas of right, and mistakes peevish feelings and a self-sought burden for zeal for truth and God's cause. Being at variance, ready to complain and correct, is not the Spirit of Jesus; each must look to self, correct own errors, perfect holiness in the fear of God, leave brethren with God, let everyone else alone and handle only his own God-given work, and hold up all without tearing others or weakening hands until the way is clear as the sun.

Jealous watch over spirit and character is required instead of warring, weakening one another, and imagining evil, with no flattering or glorifying on one hand and no harshness and impatience on the other. Believers are not appointed to condemn Dr. Kellogg, and opposition must never be expressed in an unchristlike spirit, for self-examination must come before judging or measuring a brother. Each worker should attend to work he can faithfully do and ensure it will withstand God's righteous judgment rather than accusing or criticizing another's work. In business, confusing human wisdom with God's principles, misleading others about right, or acquiring wealth unjustly shows failure to learn the holy law of the Sermon on the Mount and calls for repentance and cleansing of soul. Those who instructed hardworking young women while ignoring their need for clothing and shoes closed their eyes to their own duty while demanding hardship, whereas genuine faith works by love and meets a neighbor's needs.

Growing in holiness requires genuine experience, longing for thorough conversion, and daily prayer and striving for deeper self-insight to understand and confess one's own mistakes and errors rather than a neighbor's sins. Instead of looking critically at others each should examine personal character, for awareness of personal mistakes makes others' faults seem insignificant, though jealousy distorts vision of a brother's actions. Humility and self-surrender clear misunderstandings and remove hindrances to loving fellowship, countering Satan's distortion that makes a small fault seem enormous and a great fault small.

Treating a brother as the cause of troubles while mistaken suspicions and complaints distort the situation calls for removing unfair judgment, looking to Jesus, and correcting thoughts and attitude. One blinded by evil thoughts, suspicion, and faultfinding cannot see clearly to correct another, and claiming spiritual discernment while failing to recognize personal sin is self-deception, for an unsanctified heart and unsubmitted will keep a person from representing Christ.

One who bears down on the erring with little mercy has sometimes made mistakes far more grievous in God's sight than those he unsparingly condemns. Errors in the church do not excuse enmity or bitter criticism; each must confess personal sins, make restitution as far as possible, and remember God has made no one responsible for bearing His people's sins. God has given no one the work of watching for and talking about faults, and pointing out defects and speaking about them is the very conduct forbidden.

Unchecked self-confidence leads defective characters who see others' errors without knowing their own to make serious mistakes by acting without consultation. Recognizing how much remains to be learned keeps a person from boasting of knowledge and makes him accept instruction and correction when in error. Each must attend to personal spiritual life and speak carefully, since none knows whom God approves and careless words may discourage those He supports.

Each must leave a brother's faults alone, ask God to reveal the heart, search within, confess personal wrongs, and leave brethren with the Lord, for each answers only for his own wrongs and humility with self-correction fosters love and unity. While narrowly watching to pull weeds from a brother's garden, poisonous weeds grow strong and rank in one's own, so one must not stop to measure another's share of wrong. United work in truth and holiness comes when each labors to keep his own soul and keeps a happy, cheerful, forbearing spirit at home, with blame falling on self rather than another.