The Plumbline

Do you regularly carry some form of identification with you, especially when you leave the house? Most of us have a driver's license, passport, or identification card of some kind. Some have that information in their smartphone, while others carry a wallet full of identifying information. Is it that tiny card you carry that really identifies who you are? Is it possible to carry a bit of 'false identification' with us? Yes, there are many people who produce such 'false IDs' because there is both a demand for them and a profit to be made. It is possible we may be carrying some sort of 'false identification' with us apart from those cards that could be carried in our wallets. That 'false ID' is the one we carry along with us because we feel shame for our past - identifying with our failures and not the hope we are given in Christ Jesus. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ag...

A solid reputation requires a commitment to being honest. Deceitful people walk a treacherous, thorny path. Mom always said that my lies would "snowball". In other words, it was like rolling the tiny snowball into the bigger one which eventually became the biggest part of the snowman's body! The more you "roll around" in the lie, the more lies you attract and use to cover up the original one. Eventually, there is more effort in being dishonest than there ever would have been in maintaining your integrity and just coming clean about what it is you wanted to cover up in the first place. At the moment, a lie seems like an easy fix to a miserable situation, but in the end, the situation is made more miserable by the lies. No amount of "cover-up" actually stays covered up very long. Eventually some form of "heat" will cause the truth to surface - and when it does, the damage the lies have done to your reputation leave a bigger "hole" to ...

A good reputation is better than much wealth; high esteem is better than silver and gold. The rich and the poor have this in common: the Lord made them both. Prudent people see trouble and hide, while the simpleminded go right to it and get punished. The reward of humility and the fear of the Lord is wealth, honor, and life. Thorns and nets are in the path of the crooked; those who guard their lives keep their distance. Train children in the way they should go; when they grow old, they won’t depart from it. The wealthy rule over the poor; a borrower is a slave to a lender. Those who sow injustice will harvest evil; the rod of their fury will come to an end. Happy are generous people, because they give some of their food to the poor. Remove the mocker and conflict disappears; judgment and shame also stop. (Proverbs 21:1-10) The overall quality of character is what determines if a man or woman will be known in a favorable light. We call this "reputation" - something which ...