Pulling splinters

1 Timothy 6:1-2

When I read a passage like this, I almost always say something like: "Yeah, but what about the other guy?" This passage is telling slaves (in our context it can be applied to employees) to treat their masters (managers) with full respect so that God's name and the apostle's teaching would not be slandered. It's funny to me how often we apply other people's lives to God's Word when he wants me to apply my own life to it. If I get too close to being convicted about how I treat or respect those in authority over me I immediately start blaming the boss: "if he treated me better", "I thought he was supposed to be a Christian", etc. Rather than letting God's Word speak to me I start to defend and deflect.
This is probably what Jesus was talking about when he said not to pull splinters out of somebody's eye until you've gotten rid of the plank in your own. God, speak to me through your Word and help me to pull the planks out of my own eye before I start gouging at splinters in others' eyes.