The Plumbline

But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness. (James 3:17-18 NLT) God's presence within us brings a wisdom that helps us deal with the things of this world, including dealing with people who may be a little hard to deal with at times. It is peace loving at the very core and therefore, it takes relationships with others very seriously and sets them as a priority. We cannot be bitter and represent Christ to the world. We cannot be angry and expect others to desire his presence in their lives. It is this gentle, peace loving, yielded spirit that makes others curious about what is 'different' within us from all the others they see. God's presence within will manifest in many ways, but perhaps the most profound...

Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. (Romans 12:3 NLT) Let's be truthful today - do we really make an honest evaluation of ourselves, or is it tainted by some misguided standard or lofty goal we have set for ourselves? If we were to be totally honest, most of us have set the bar either way too high or settled for it being way too low in a spiritual sense. We have become content in our 'lukewarm' state of being "Christians" but not living like Christ is our all in all, or we have become so down on ourselves because we think we haven't 'attained' the 'level' of Christian faith we think God must expect of us. Either way, we aren't right! God accepts us as we are, not as we will become. He wants us to have him as the center of our lives, with our whole hearts devoted to him. We are not going to grow in Christ when we simply bide our time ...