The Plumbline

God’s grace has come. That grace can save everyone. It teaches us not to live against God and not to do the bad things the world wants to do. It teaches us to live on earth now in a wise and right way—a way that shows true devotion to God. We should live like that while we are waiting for the coming of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. He is our great hope, and he will come with glory. (Titus 2:11-13) Grace has come, so live by doing what is right and wise. The world needs to see us living in true devotion to God, not ourselves. What does that true devotion look like? I think it may resemble choosing to live with others in mind, not always focusing on ourselves. What does it mean to live against God? Sometimes it means we choose to do or say things that will hurt another, but it could just mean we don't put him first in our choices. When we put Christ first in our lives, it may shift our priorities more than just a little bit. It can change our whole world. Would we choose to ...

"The man who practices unselfishness, who is genuinely interested in the welfare of others, who feels it a privilege to have the power to do a fellow-creature a kindness - even though polished manners and a gracious presence may be absent - will be an elevating influence wherever he goes." (Orison Swett Marden) In whatever you do, don’t let selfishness or pride be your guide. Be humble, and honor others more than yourselves. Don’t be interested only in your own life, but care about the lives of others too. (Philippians 2:3-4) In whatever you do - it easy to be concerned about others when your own needs are met, isn't it? When your needs haven't been met, how easy is it then? Truth be told, we all have a selfish streak that runs deep, and we sometimes haven't a clue it is there! Selfishness is one of the hardest things for us to recognize, but it can be the one thing that drives a wedge between two people quicker than we might imagine. When our eyes are on ourselv...

  Don’t be misled: No one makes a fool of God. What a person plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others—ignoring God!—harvests a crop of weeds. All he’ll have to show for his life is weeds! But the one who plants in response to God, letting God’s Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life. (Galatians 6:7-8) A crop of weeds - we all have a few weeds, don't we? What we don't want is for those weeds to overgrow what God is planting within us. A crop suggests there has been a gross over-growth of those ugly things in our lives. Planting is important - what gets sown is what gets reaped. Planting in response to what God asks in our lives is of the greatest importance - for this is what produces the harvest we really desire. As we think about ways we allow 'weeds' to be planted in our lives, it really all begins and ends with this idea of selfishness. Ignoring the needs of others - focusing primar...

Selfishness and pride get in the way in our lives way more than we might like to freely admit to each other, but if we are to grow in Christ we do need to acknowledge this fact! The moment we begin to realize there is something at work within us that is in direct opposition to the work of Christ in our lives is the moment we can begin to choose to live differently. It only takes a moment to change a life course, while it takes a lifetime to live it out. Don't believe me? Look upon the parent who lost their child to drugs and tell me it didn't take a moment to change that parent's entire life course, or the single parent left alone to raise her children simply because there was someone more 'appealing' to her husband. A choice made in a moment - a lifetime to live it out. The moment we make a choice is as significant as each step we take beyond those choices, especially when it comes to growing in the grace and love of Christ. Don’t let selfishness and prideful agend...