The Plumbline

A good character is the best tombstone. Those who loved you and were helped by you will remember you when forget-me-nots have withered. Carve your name on hearts, not on marble. (Charles Spurgeon) Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. (Romans 12:9-10) Have you ever 'pretended' to care for someone, all because it was 'expected' of you? You have that one coworker who just annoys you to the core, the messy neighbor who refuses to keep his yard clean, or the cranky old goat who always seems to be the clerk on duty whenever you go through the checkout lane. They all have that one common trait - they aren't all that easy to love. As Spurgeon said, "Carve your names on hearts..." - even theirs! Our greatest challenge at times is to love those we might label as 'unlovable'. Their 'personality' just conf...

Do to others as you would like them to do to you. If you love only those who love you, why should you get credit for that? Even sinners love those who love them! And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why should you get credit? Even sinners do that much! (Luke 6:31-33) Even sinners do that much... If you haven't ever focused on that portion of this passage, I encourage you to pause for a moment to consider what Jesus was really saying here. Even those without God in their hearts, those whose lives are still steeped in sinful actions and motivations, have figured out how to treat some people in their lives kindly, while perhaps not treating others with the same degree of kindness. Have you ever considered those in your life that you perhaps don't treat as well as some others? Why do you treat them differently? Is it their lifestyle? Their life choices? Their 'sinfulness'? If Jesus had looked upon all of us, seeing any of us even one bit differently than the...

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever. Has the Lord redeemed you? Then speak out! Tell others he has redeemed you from your enemies. (Psalm 107:1-2) We might not realize how vital our testimony of grace can be in helping others realize how good God really is. We are actually told to 'tell others', not just in words, but in all our actions. We might think none will listen, but when they 'see' his goodness at work in and through us, they are really seeing a living testimony. The faithfulness of God's love is best observed - not just talked about. We can say God is good, that his mercies are new every morning, but when these mercies become evident in our lives so that others can see them, we are living out grace's outcome. God's actions always have an outcome - in us and through us. We need to be faithful to declare his goodness. God has always come to those who call upon his name. Those who are lost need only call on his...

Never let loyalty and kindness leave you! Tie them around your neck as a reminder. Write them deep within your heart. Then you will find favor with both God and people, and you will earn a good reputation. (Proverbs 3:3-4) Loyalty and kindness are certainly not the things we see 'delivered' today in so many interactions with others, are they? We find a lot of backstabbing in politics, many rumors flying about the lives and choices of various celebs, and just plain bad manners on our highways and byways at times. Is it possible our culture has forgotten these two 'hallmarks' of "ONE NATION UNDER GOD"? Write them deep within your heart. Perhaps this is where our departure from simple kindness and unyielding loyalty began - we neglected to hide God's word deep within our hearts. Favor with God took backseat to favor with others. Favor with others seems to only be important if they can 'do' something for us. We forgot that our neighbor is our friend...

"Treasure the love you receive above all. It will survive long after your good health has vanished." (Og Mandino) This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. This is my command: Love each other. (John 15:12-17) The same way Christ loved us - is it possible to love that much? I don't believe Jesus would have told us to do so if he wouldn't also empower us to love in such a manner. How does one actually lay down their life for another? Does it always require physical death? I don't believe Jesus would have told us to al...

So don’t lose a minute in building on what you’ve been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others. (2 Peter 1:5-7) Jesus has the power of God - so, if he indwells your spirit, don't lose one minute in allowing him to put that power to use within your life. Faith is good, but we need renewed thoughts, changed behavior, and a whole lot of 'umph' to get through the testing of that faith! We need his power - we have his power - but most of us still feel 'powerless' to live as we should. It is because we think we have to do all this 'changing' in our own power, not HIS. Good character comes as we begin to allow his indwelling power and his word to bring conviction to any area of our 'character' that isn't upright. That conviction should turn us away from those thin...

Think about what we have in Christ: the encouragement he has brought us, the comfort of his love, our sharing in his Spirit, and the mercy and kindness he has shown us. If you enjoy these blessings, then do what will make my joy complete: Agree with each other, and show your love for each other. Be united in your goals and in the way you think. (Philippians 2:1-2) What is it we have 'in Christ' that we didn't have without him in our lives? For one thing, we have been given more than just forgiveness as we might think of it. When we forgive someone, do we forget the offense? No, there is a lingering remembrance. With God, there is no remembrance of the sin. When I was in grade school, the teacher would use the chalkboard all day, erasing with those black erasers. It left a tell-tale white residue on the board. At the end of the day, I enjoyed 'cleaning' the board with the soft 'shammy-like' eraser that removed all that residue and made the board look like ne...

 Love cures people - both the ones who give it and the ones who receive it. (Karl A. Menninger) I give you a new command: Love each other. You must love each other just as I loved you. All people will know that you are my followers if you love each other. (John 13:34-35) Some in this world crave love because they really haven't seen much love modeled in their lives - rejected, alone in most of their actions, drifting kind of aimlessly from one relationship to another, just hoping they will find 'whatever' it is they crave. Love isn't learned from the textbooks - it is modeled behavior. We can absolutely KNOW God loves us because he sent his son to 'model' the behaviors of love. His love has been in action since he created heaven and earth, but if we ever doubted his love, we only need to look to the actions of Jesus on our behalf, the actions of his Father in sending him to earth, and then the actions of the Father pronouncing sin's penalty has been paid onc...

Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.  (I Corinthians 13:7) I don't know who needs this today, but the words that popped in this passage today were 'love never gives up'. There are times when all we want to do is throw in the towel and just call it quits. It could be in a relationship, a job, some adventure you got yourself into, or even a dream that you have always wanted to see fulfilled. Love never gives up - never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures - regardless of the circumstances, our lack of whatever it is we need at the moment, or how hard the pressure seems to be 'in the middle of the muddle' we call life. Does that mean whenever we want to give up, we need more love in our lives? No, it just means we turn to the one who loves us beyond our understanding of his love. We turn to Jesus and ask him for whatever it is we need at the moment - to continue with purpose, power, and persistence. ...

"Treasure your relationships, not your possessions." (Anthony J. D'Angelo) There are all kinds of treasures we 'seek', 'find', and 'maintain' in life, but the greatest treasure is that of relationship - first with God and then with others. We can never neglect the importance of each of these, for our very sanity and safety depend upon them! Who may climb the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? Only those whose hands and hearts are pure, who do not worship idols and never tell lies. They will receive the Lord’s blessing and have a right relationship with God their savior. Such people may seek you and worship in your presence. (Psalm 24:3-6) Relationship with God actually brings us to a place in our lives where we are made 'right' in our daily walk. In other words, we have our sins erased, minds renewed, hearts made pure, and spirit energized by him. As a result, we are free to relate to one another in a way unlike any way ...

Those who love money will never have enough. How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness! The more you have, the more people come to help you spend it. So what good is wealth—except perhaps to watch it slip through your fingers! (Ecclesiastes 5:10-11) I don't think there is anyone who wants to look back on their life only to realize the majority of the activity they performed was merely to 'make money'. The average wage-earner in the United States holds about 12 jobs in their lifetime, spending about 4.5 years per job, meaning we work about fifty years or so. If all that work is without any rest, the body, mind, and soul of a man is taxed by the end! Too much rest makes for a different outcome - we might even be labeled as a little 'lazy' and 'foolish'. The balance comes somewhere in the middle, but it should never be to the detriment of our relationships - including our relationship with God! True happiness is kind of an elusive thing for ma...

Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters. Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it! Remember those in prison, as if you were there yourself. Remember also those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies. (Hebrews 13:1-3) Keep on...the call for the new year. It is not a time to sit back and just watch...it is a time to rise up and take action. Love each other...as brothers and sisters. No family is perfect. No relationship is always without stress or strain. We must work at loving one another as Christ loves us. Three missions for the new year:  Show hospitality to strangers. Give comfort, provide meals, present gifts, and lend them help. The Latin word “hospes” means “visitor”, so we are to look after and care for them. How can we make someone's life a little more comfortable? What act can we perform that will minister to their need? Remember the prisoner. This doesn't a...

For love is as strong as death, its jealousy as enduring as the grave. Love flashes like fire, the brightest kind of flame. Many waters cannot quench love, nor can rivers drown it. (Song of Solomon 8:6-7) "Love has no age, no limit; and no death." (John Galsworthy) When I was in Bible College, one of the professors asked us to take time to write down some ideas about what we believed love to be - actions of love, thoughts it evoked, and even the emotions it evoked. It was a pretty interesting lesson as all of us 'scholarly' students put forth our best effort to come up with the 'best' definition of love. As we shared our ideas in the classroom that day, I recall how each of us came up with some of the same 'pat answers', while others had gone much deeper, their answers revealing just how much they understood the depth and breadth of love. Love is a very 'strong' emotion that evokes even stronger actions. It was apparent to me that I had only to...

Love is kind and patient, never jealous, boastful, proud, or rude. Love isn’t selfish or quick tempered. It doesn’t keep a record of wrongs that others do. Love rejoices in the truth, but not in evil. Love is always supportive, loyal, hopeful, and trusting. Love never fails! (I Corinthians 13:4-8) How well are we revealing God's love to those we live with and serve on a daily basis?  After all, there is no specific 'day' to focus on these character traits - it is just expected every single day of our lives!  For most of us, this thing called "love" is like one of those "match games" you see online these days where you have to align the right sequence of candies or jewels.  There are little hidden bears or objects behind those colorful squares - waiting to be uncovered - reliant upon your skill and reasoning.  If the hidden is to be uncovered, you must be very, very "calculated" in your moves.  Sometimes I think we approach loving each other in ...

Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend. (Martin Luther King, Jr) “You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!" (Matthew 5:43-44) Probably one of the toughest things we encounter is the desire to actually 'be nice' or 'do nice things' toward our enemies. Why is that so hard for us? We feel wronged, leading us to feel a little bit like we aren't important to that other person, or that we deserved better. We want to let them know how much they have hurt us - how much their 'negative impact' has left us feeling like we were 'less than' or 'didn't matter' in their eyes - at least from the way we took their actions to mean. Jesus reminds those of us who have said 'yes' to him that it is responsibility to not only love our 'nice neighbors' or the 'friends we actually like', but to love our EN...

Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters. Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude.(I Peter 3:8) One mind is hard to get your mind wrapped around, isn't it? We all have an opinion, and some may come close to what yours is, but does it match perfectly? Not always. In fact, there are more opinions in this world than there is truth! What does it mean to sympathize with each other? I believe we need to see things through each other's eyes in order for us to 'come into one mind'. It is never going to happen that we see things perfectly as the other person does, but we can come into a place where we don't compromise truth and that is when we become of one mind. The outcome of being united in truth is that love flows freely - there is an outpouring of the grace and goodness God has given us. I have one brother and sister, but I have 'many' in the family of God that are my brothers and sister...

So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” (John 12:34-35) Can you imagine if some of the Pharisee leaders had of overheard this conversation between Jesus and his disciples that night? "A new commandment I am giving you" would have sent their heads spinning! They would have debated the credibility of Jesus and then demanded to know who he was to 'give a new commandment' - because only God could give those! Hmmm...only God could give those...maybe Jesus was really showing his disciples that he and his Father were one - that he was 'really' God with a bod.  The new commandment was not really all that new, but it emphasized a 'new work' Jesus expected from his disciples. They were to 'prove to the world' their faith - through love. In prior times, you 'proved' your faith through 'religiou...

  Have you ever said of one thing only to act an entirely different way when push came to shove?  We pledge to do one thing, but we do another.  It is just human nature to "preserve" ourself when the times get a little tougher to deal with than we first imagined them to be.  When it comes to loving another individual, we want to save face, come out on top, and not be "found out" for the cowards we really are. When it comes to loving another individual, we are pretty cowardly at times - not willing to face danger, difficulty, opposition, or pain within the relationship.  Face it - relationships can get pretty messy!  When it comes to facing them without fear, we don't do a very good job with this unless we rely upon Jesus within us to actually help us love with the intensity of love he shows us.  We become pretty timid and often are intimidated by the "confines" of love.  Love is truly "messy" business, but it is the "business" we ar...

Mother Teresa reminds us, "If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one." Who is your 'one'? You might not realize it, but that 'one' could be sitting right next to you today. When our hearts are open to hear what God wants us to hear and see what he wants us to see, we might just realize there are more 'needs' unmet in that person's life than there are met. Could we be the one to meet even one of those needs? If we are willing to put our own life on hold for just a moment or two, I believe we can become the hands and feet of Christ in a world that is hurting, lost, and oftentimes feeling like the battle has left them our on their own.  Does your life in Christ give you strength? Does his love comfort you? Do we share together in the spirit? Do you have mercy and kindness? If so, make me very happy by having the same thoughts, sharing the same love, and having one mind and purpose. When you do things, do not let selfishness or pride b...

The love of Christ controls us, because we know that One died for all, so all have died. Christ died for all so that those who live would not continue to live for themselves. He died for them and was raised from the dead so that they would live for him. (2 Corinthians 5:14-15) The love of Christ is supposed to compel us to live right - to make good choices and respond well to life's challenges. The truth about how most of us live is somewhere between that point and doing things on our own without much thought as to what Christ would want or do. We aren't living quite as close to sin's pull as we once were, but we haven't quite figured out how to get to the point where we are consistently seeking Christ's best for our lives. Don't be down on yourself - you are not alone in this struggle! You have many a traveling companion on that journey! Christ asks for us to lean into his love, but do we know what that really looks like? I think it means that we see incrementa...