The Plumbline

The wise in heart will receive commandments, but a prating fool will fall. (Proverbs 10:8) Those who "talk to hear themselves talk" might not actually know how foolish they can sound on occasion. They just ramble on and on as though all the world was listening. At times, they might actually have something to say, but the "world" is so tired of listening to their pointless talk that even if they have some nugget of purposeful information in there somewhere, no one is really paying close attention! This might be why scripture reminds us of the way we use our words - not in excess, not hastily, not in idle talk. When we have a tendency to just make "conversation" for the sake of "passing the time", we don't really have much to share which will really lend to the building of relationship or receiving of instruction. When I want to build relationship, I usually am very focused on learning certain things about the other individual. I may be d...

Careful words make for a careful life; careless talk may ruin everything. (Proverbs 13:3) We all manage to say things we later regret, don't we? In a moment of 'not thinking', we blurt out something that either comes across too harsh, too crass, or too weird. In that moment, we almost wish we could snatch them back right out of the air, hoping they would never reach anyone's ears. It has proven difficult for me to actually snatch back words once spoken, although I have found myself doing more than my share of ' back-pedaling ' to attempt to 'get out of' whatever it is I have managed to get myself into. Careless words just hang there for a while, don't they?  How do we become for 'careful' with our words? You might not believe this, but it is by engaging our brain before we engage our mouth! We disengage our emotions, think through what needs to be said and how it should be said, then consider if it even needs to be said at all. Why would I s...

  Congenial conversation—what a pleasure! The right word at the right time—beautiful! (Proverbs 15:23) Agreeable conversation is usually quite enjoyable, is it not? Start to get a little 'testy' in conversation and the sparks can fly, or the doors slam shut quickly in that relationship. Why? People don't really like conflict all that much - congenial words go a lot further than unkind ones. Truthful words can hurt from time to time, though. There is a time and a place for those 'right words' at the 'right time' - when that time and place presents itself, the outcome is awesome.  What makes for 'congenial' conversation? The 'spirit' of the words is correct - in other words, the feeling and 'temper' of the words is kind, thoughtful, and truthful. What makes for 'argument inducing' words? The 'spirit' of the words is harsh - hateful, distasteful, unkind, or cold words that actually have a purpose of hurting another. Some ...

When was the last time you had a deeply intimate conversation with anyone? Most of us would think of an 'intimate' conversation as one that got deeply personal - there was some sharing at the most 'confidential' level. Whatever was shared wasn't meant for public knowledge - it was between you and the one you were sharing it with. Sadly, there are those who have never really gone beyond the surface in sharing with others - sometimes even keeping a very superficial relationship with God, as well. They might have trust issues, but it could also be pride issues - their pride keeps them from sharing too much of themselves because they believe themselves to be better or worse than another. The bottling up of emotions and the hiding of these things that really need to be shared is just not good for us, though. We need the freedom of sharing our innermost self - even if it is worse than what we want to 'portray' for anyone else to see! God isn't surprised at our...

What is it you actually walk away from?  In clothing stores, I find it easy to turn away from things which have a very low cut, loud prints, or some type of price tag which is out of this world.  In food stores, I find it easy to turn away from things I cannot identify displayed in the meat case, or pickled animal parts in jars on shelves.  In conversations this time of year, I find it easy to turn away from all those controversial ones about who to elect as our next leader in our nation.  Some things are easier to walk away from while others are a little more challenging - like the candy at the checkout counter or the plate of freshly baked cookies someone brings into work to share.  What we choose to walk away from may be the very thing which could take us down a path we don't really want to pursue! Walk away from the evil things in the world—just leave them behind, and do what is right, and always seek peace and pursue it. (I Peter 3:11 VOICE) Scrip...

Wisdom dictates we listen more than we speak - but I have to honestly ask how well we are doing on that one?  Listening is an art - learned not because we really want to learn it, but because if we don't learn how to listen, we will eventually get life pretty much as we like it, but we might just be the only ones left in the picture once we do!  I suspect there is much to this listening "art" which many of us have yet to perfect.  In fact, learning this "art" of listening requires we not only learn how to "tune into" the voice we hear, but we learn to "recognize" the voice.  I think many of us hear those "voices" in our heads - hopefully not too many of them - but we don't always know which one is the one we should be listening to.  If you have ever seen the commercial where there is a little guy in white on one shoulder and a little guy in black on the other and the lady is trying to figure out if she can give her kid chocolat...