The Plumbline

Interfering in some else’s argument is as foolish as yanking a dog’s ears. (Proverbs 26:17) If you have ever caught yourself ‘putting in your two cent’s worth’ in the middle of some else’s disagreement with someone, you know how quickly that might have backfired. You just thought you were ‘helping’, but somehow the disagreement just got worse, or the tables changed, and you became the focus of the issue. Not a pleasant place to find oneself. Much better to remain silent, lift a few prayers for each to see wisdom in the matter, and allow God to intervene – not you! Arguments happen, but we don’t have to act as the arbitrator for all of them. Sometimes the other parties just need to work it out themselves – more being learned in the ‘working it out process’ than if you shut it down with your advice or meddling. Most of the ‘learning’ that comes when two people disagree comes when each one examines their own heart and finds any place where they might have been ‘at fault’. Arguments are ra

T. S. Eliot asks, "Where is all the knowledge we lost with information?" God reminds us, "Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline." (Proverbs 1:7) Knowing 'more' doesn't always make us any wiser in our choices, does it? In fact, a good many of our choices are simply made because others are making that choice. We are influenced by what we see, hear, and come to accept as truth. When knowledge turns us away from God's truth, we will make unwise choices. When knowledge is the result of embracing truth, we find our steps are more certain and our choices are actually narrowed quite a bit. Information abounds, but knowledge that comes from a deep, intimate relationship with Jesus seems to be lacking in many cases. Our nation struggles because of the 'information overload' we receive each day, but there is little truth contained within that 'load'. Most of us hunger for truth - simply bec

Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured. (Mark Twain) If we were to be honest about our anger, we would likely acknowledge there is something within us that was wounded - our pride took a hit of some sort. Most of the time it is not that we just have a bad temper - it is an issue with our pride that causes us to have those outbursts that bring riffs in relationships. Most of us don't have 'rage issues' or 'bad tempers' - we just get a bit miffed at one another on occasion because something struck us wrong, we were disappointed by some response, or we just plain got our undies in a bundle because we didn't get our own way. I know - I just meddled in your mess a bit - but I also am meddling in mine! If you are angry, be sure that it is not out of wounded pride or bad temper. Never go to bed angry—don’t give the devil that sort of foothold. (Ephesians 4:26) I think this translation of this pa