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Blaming First vs. Owning First
Amanda Tewksbury

Ready:

“And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own?” Matthew 7:3

Set:

I blew the whistle this past season during a drill and pointed out an error one of the girls made. She immediately blamed one of her teammates for causing her to make the mistake. I said, “There is someone who some of us love who once said to notice the log in your own eye before you look at another’s speck.” One of my other players responded by asking, “Was it Dr. Seuss who said that?” 

Sure, Dr. Seuss has given his readers helpful teaching, but Jesus is our ultimate Coach! In Matthew 7:3, Jesus instructs us about how we view others. Before this, He talks about judgment and the danger in judging others. He uses a log to signify owning our own faults first before we look at something much smaller, a speck, in another’s faults.

Blaming first has been a habit we’ve learned from our youth. But before we place blame on one of our teammates, players, or fellow coaches as the reason for a mistake or certain situation, we must allow God to get us into a new habit: look at our log first (own ours first) before we place any blame or critique anyone else’s speck. “Then, He says, “…you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye” (Matthew 7:5). This is a habit as Christ followers we’re called to adopt. It’s a habit that will transform the way we compete and coach. And, it will help us see others as Jesus does!

Go:

1.  Who have you been blaming recently on your team? Did you evaluate your mistakes in the situation first?

2. How could Jesus’ words here change the way you interact with your players or teammates?

  

Overtime:

Ephesians 4:25-32

God, help us to have the humility to see our own faults before others’. Help us to be transformed by Your heart and mind. Amen.