Check Yourself Before You Check Others

Reflection Date: September 11, 2026 | Friday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time
Daily Readings: 1 Corinthians 9:16-19, 22b-27; Luke 6:39-42

Children of God:
In the 1930s, two men named Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith became the unlikely founders of Alcoholics Anonymous, a fellowship that eventually helped millions of people confront alcoholism through mutual support and personal change. 

Bill Wilson struggled with alcoholism and experienced a spiritual awakening after reaching a point of deep personal crisis. 

He later met Dr. Bob Smith, another physician who also struggled with drinking, and their conversations became the beginning of a new kind of recovery fellowship. 

Instead of presenting themselves as perfect people helping defective people, they recognized that both needed honesty, support, and accountability. 

Their experience developed into a program in which members were encouraged to examine their own lives, admit their wrongs, and take responsibility for the harm they caused. 

This practice of personal inventory became an important part of their recovery because they needed to look honestly at their own behavior instead of concentrating only on the failures of others. 

This good practice in Alcoholics Anonymous of personal inventory also encouraged people to make amends when their actions hurt others, turning self-examination into concrete responsibility. 

The wisdom was simple but demanding: before spending all our energy identifying what is wrong with somebody else, we need to become honest about what is happening within ourselves. 

In that sense, the practice of personal inventory echoed a truth that Jesus taught long before: genuine change begins when we are willing to look at ourselves.

In the gospel story of Jesus' teaching about judgment, he warned his disciples about the danger of correcting other people while ignoring their own faults. 

Jesus did not say that people should never correct one another. 

Instead, he challenged the hypocrisy of someone who tried to remove another person's small fault while refusing to acknowledge a much greater problem within himself. 

What are our inspirations for today? 

First, look at yourself before you look down on someone else.

Jesus used the image of a wooden beam and a splinter because it was almost humorous in its exaggeration. 

Imagine someone walking around with a large piece of wood in his own eye while carefully pointing out a tiny piece of dust in another person's eye. 

The image exposed how easily people can become blind to their own weaknesses while becoming very sensitive to the weaknesses of others.

This happens in ordinary life. 

We notice when someone is impatient, but we forget the times when we lose our temper. 

We complain that someone talks too much, while we dominate every conversation. 

We criticize another person's lateness while finding endless excuses for our own delays. 

We notice someone's mistakes at work while conveniently forgetting the mistakes we make ourselves.

Self-examination is therefore not an invitation to hate ourselves. 

It is an invitation to become honest. 

When we recognize our own weaknesses, we become less arrogant in correcting others and more compassionate toward their struggles.

Look at yourself before you look down on someone else.

Second, correction is helpful when it is done with humility.

Jesus did not completely reject the idea of helping another person see a fault. 

His concern was the attitude of the person doing the correcting. 

Someone who first examines himself can approach another person not as a superior judge but as a fellow human being who also needs forgiveness and growth.

This makes a difference in our families, friendships, workplaces, and communities. 

When we correct someone with the attitude, “I am better than you,” the other person naturally becomes defensive. 

But when we say, “I also make mistakes, and I am telling you this because I care about you,” the conversation can become more honest and constructive.

Correction is helpful when it is done with humility.

As we reflect, we ask ourselves: What fault in other people do I criticize most often, and do I sometimes recognize that same weakness in myself? 

When I correct someone, am I motivated by genuine concern or by the desire to feel superior? What personal weakness do I need to acknowledge honestly so that I can become more patient, humble, and understanding?

Children of God:
The teaching of Jesus invites us to begin the work of change where it is most difficult: within ourselves. 

It is always easier to identify someone else's mistakes than to examine our own. 

The image of the wooden beam and the splinter reminds us how ridiculous hypocrisy can become. 

When we become honest about our own weaknesses, we become gentler when dealing with the weaknesses of others. 

When we learn to correct ourselves, our correction of others becomes more credible and compassionate.