There is a strange parable that Jesus taught about planks and splinters. You may have been taught to first take the plank out of your own eye before you take the splinter in your brother’s eye. That’s great, but what exactly are these “planks and splinters” and how do you deal with them?

I have begun to experience in my life that many of the parables that Jesus taught are actually very real things in the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom is within you and it is in this place, your heart, where you need to deal with these issues.

There are many definitions for the word “heart” in Scripture and one of them is the most central place within something. It is in this place within you that you dwell and where God dwells within you as well.

Think about it, God LIVES inside you.

Where is this place inside you in which He dwells? He said He has placed eternity within your heart. (Eccl 3:11) So, somewhere within you is a place, called your heart, which is a real place that exists in eternity. Have you heard the expression “the eyes of your heart?” (Eph 1:18) I think this is talking about being able to see things from another realm or place, the place where God dwells and from His point of view.

When Jesus said take the plank out of your own eye I believe He is referring to how you are seeing or understanding a situation that has to do with an issue in someone else’s life. Our opinions are often obscured because of the way we see or believe. God sits in another realm and He sees the same situation from a completely different perspective. To Him the issue in our brother’s (or sister’s) life is a very small thing, but we see it as something major.

When God judges (examines) us He does so from an eternal perspective. He examines things from the eternal position that the cross established concerning us. On the cross the written offenses of our sins were dealt with. There they were nailed to the cross and they did not ascend into the throne room with Jesus. When Jesus rose from the dead He rose WITHOUT OUR SIN. He brought His blood, purified the temple (which is you) and then sat down at the Father’s right hand. Now, when God begins to look at issues in our lives He does it from the eternal position of us and our brother being righteous.

When He said remove the plank out of your own eye He is simply saying that you are seeing things from the perspective of sin and the realm that is temporal, instead of from the realm of eternity. From the realm of eternity, you see your brother or sister from the position of who they are in Christ, where they are righteous, holy and pure in God’s sight. Suddenly their “fault” is not that big because your outlook towards them has changed. From that position it is easy to determine whether it is a sin that love should just cover or if it is a matter that you need to address with them.

When YOU are positioned in God’s love, which is long suffering and takes NO ACCOUNT of the evil it has suffered, you will see clearly and be able to remove the splinter – the shortcoming – of your brother or sister. You will then be in a position to remove the splinter without hurting your brother and setting them free from the little thing that has been irritating them.

The next time you find you have an issue in your heart towards someone, first go up into the heavenly realms and deal with it there in the presence of LOVE. Find the wisdom of God concerning it and DO NOT go and deal with it BEFORE your own love for them overwhelms you.

And if someone has come and tried to remove a splinter in your eye, and it has left you hurt and feeling unworthy, take it to the presence of the Father, let His love heal you, so that you in turn can see clearly where the person that hurt you is concerned, and then make the same decision to either cover it in love and carry on walking in peace, or whether you need to go to them and make things right.

You are loved always.

PLEASE SUBSCRIBE

Planks & Splinters! – Download PDF