The Mirror Before The Window

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

In today’s Gospel, Jesus says: “Stop judging, that you may not be judged.” If we’re honest, this is one of the hardest teachings of Jesus to live. Because judging others often feels so natural. Someone says something foolish. Someone makes a bad decision. Someone hurts us. Someone disappoints us. And almost instantly, we become experts on their life. We know what’s wrong with them. We know what they should do differently. Jesus knows this tendency in us, and that’s why He uses one of His most memorable images: “Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own?”

Think about that image. A splinter is tiny. A wooden beam is massive. It’s almost humorous. Jesus is intentionally exaggerating. Imagine a man with a giant wooden beam sticking out of his face trying to perform eye surgery on someone else. It’s ridiculous. And that’s exactly His point.

The theme today is simple: The mirror before the window. Most of us spend our lives looking through windows. We look out at other people. Their faults. Their weaknesses. Their failures. But Jesus asks us to stand before a mirror first. Not because He wants us to be ashamed. But because humility is the beginning of mercy. The people who know their own need for forgiveness usually become the most forgiving people. The people who have faced their own brokenness tend to be gentler with the brokenness of others. The people who know how much God has been patient with them become patient with others. The problem is not seeing a splinter in someone’s eye. The problem is forgetting the beam in our own.

And here’s the dangerous part: when we constantly judge others, we slowly stop growing ourselves. Because all our attention is directed outward. We become critics instead of disciples. Jesus isn’t telling us to ignore truth. He isn’t saying that right and wrong don’t matter. He’s saying that before we try to correct another person, we need to allow God to correct us. Before we become a voice in someone else’s life, we must first become listeners to God’s voice in our own.

Maybe that’s the challenge for us today. Who am I focused on changing? And when was the last time I asked God to change me? Because the world has enough judges. What it desperately needs are people who have looked honestly into the mirror of God’s truth and then looked at others with compassion.

The person who knows they have been forgiven becomes capable of forgiving. The person who knows they need mercy becomes capable of showing mercy. And that is how hearts are changed. Not through condemnation. But through truth spoken with humility and love.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, You know the weaknesses I easily see in others and the weaknesses I often ignore in myself. Give me the courage to stand before the mirror of Your truth. Remove the pride that blinds me and the judgment that hardens my heart. Teach me to receive Your mercy every day so that I may offer mercy to others. Help me become less of a critic and more of a disciple, less focused on changing others and more willing to be changed by You. Amen.

– Homily by Rev Fr Patrick Agbeko