The Plumbline

Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them. So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! (2 Corinthians 5:14-17 NLT) It is indeed good news that our 'old life' is no longer in control of our daily activities, isn't it? No longer living for ourselves, but living for Christ Jesus, the very one who gave his life for us. The one thing that happens when we live this 'exchanged life' that we often don't recognize is how it changes our view of everyone else around us. We don't see them the same because we are viewing t...

I will praise the Lord at all times. I will constantly speak his praises. I will boast only in the Lord; let all who are helpless take heart. Come, let us tell of the Lord’s greatness; let us exalt his name together. (Psalm 34:1-3) As with all actions, praise is a choice. As Paul tells us, "...let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name." (Hebrews 13:15) I don't think it is unusual for us to allow circumstances or situations outside of our control to influence our choices - we all likely do it on occasion. There is one choice that must be made with a full awareness of what is involved in that choice: Praise. We are determining to praise no matter what difficulty we face - we will not allow those things to control our attitude. Could it be possible that praise is really an attitude? It just might be! Life's tough issues are bound to come to all of us and what we choose to dwell upon in those times will deter...

Abraham Lincoln once said that 'tact is the ability to describe others as they see themselves.' If you are anything like me, the 'brutality' of that honesty can sometimes sting! I don't always see myself through the eyes of Jesus, although I should. There are times when I see myself through the eyes of others - giving into their harsh judgments about the way I am behaving. In school, that got me into a whole lot of trouble! I would do things contrary to what I knew to be right just because I wanted to be 'accepted' by the 'in crowd'. I did things I wasn't comfortable doing. I followed - they led. There is but one leader worth following - Christ. There is but one estimation of our worth and goodness that really matters - Christ's. None of us 'better' or 'worse' than the next person, but we sometimes think we are. It might just be time to see ourselves through the eyes of Jesus just a bit more - seeing ourselves through the eyes...