The Plumbline

Life Hack #17: Listen with respect to the father who raised you, and when your mother grows old, don’t neglect her. Buy truth—don’t sell it for love or money; buy wisdom, buy education, buy insight. Parents rejoice when their children turn out well; wise children become proud parents. So make your father happy! Make your mother proud! (Proverbs 23:22-25) In today's culture, we might find that parents have become "chums" to their kids rather than parents. The move toward "befriending" the child has brought about a kind of disrespect which society sees manifest in a multitude of ways - everything from the simple rebellions of back talk, crossing boundaries with too much ease, disrespecting teachers at school, engaging in rebellious behaviors, and keeping wrong company. Parents have a role in raising their kids - more than just to put food on the table and clothes on their back - just as much as kids have a role in bringing respect and honor to their parents. Tha...

Do you dislike "playing second fiddle" to anyone?  You know - being subordinate to anyone or anything.  If some of us were really honest right now, we'd admit we don't like "playing second fiddle" to anyone or anything!  We like being in charge and we don't want to depend on anyone else.  There is something to be learned in dependence which never will be learned as long as we declare and hold fast to our independence though.  Maybe this lesson is just too hard to learn, so we resist it so dearly.  A friend and I were talking the other day about whether either of us would see ourselves remarried again in the future.  It came down to a talk about liking our "independence" vs. "being dependent" on someone else.  Bottom line, I ended the conversation with, "Independence is not always what it is cracked up to be!" Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be ...