Humility

             Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. (Colossians 3:12)

The next article of clothing we’re to wear until our clothing is humility. This is especially needed when comforting someone because this situation lends itself to comparison. Strengthening suggests that the other person is weaker. Compassion is given to those who are in need. Kindly lending someone strength means they are weak and needy. We are all weak and needy at some point, but when we’re on the giving end of the equation, it’s easy to start doubting them and turning our focus to ourselves. And if the receiver needs or shows weakness too often, instead of helping them up, we may use them to make us feel better about ourselves.

This is why Jesus tells us to make sure we don’t have a speck in our own eye before we worry about the log in someone else’s. It’s not that the other person doesn’t have a log in their eye. It’s that the only way to deal effectively with the log is by removing the speck before it grows into a log. Each time we deal with someone who needs comfort, help, etc., we must remember, "There, but for the grace of God, go I.”