The Plumbline

Marilyn Monroe once said it would be nice to enjoy success without so many people envying you because you do.  She may have been onto something there - for success to one may actually cause another to stumble.  The passage today comes from the psalms of Asaph - not likely one person in scripture, but a group of Temple singers.  They number 12 psalms included in the Book of Psalms.  One in particular caught my attention this morning as I considered the types of things which seem to "get hold" of us from time to time in life, causing us to lose focus, or drift a little off-course.  One of those things is envy - another word for this is jealousy.  As most of us understand, envy is really a feeling of discontent - discontent because another's advantages, success, or possessions get us feeling a little like we haven't "arrived" at the same place in life as they have.  The discontent can sometimes get us up and moving in the direction which will propel us fo...

If you have ever struggled with a little negativity in your own life - such as just not being able to see the forest for the trees - you probably will get what I am going to talk about today.  Life choices are based on what we evaluate to be either "negative" or "positive" for our lives.  We try to avoid the negative and move toward what we consider to be positive.  The time it takes to avoid one and move toward another is really what gives us the most problems, isn't it?  One of the things we have to keep in mind is the "ease" at which the negative stuff comes into our lives.  It is like this ever-present gift that just keeps on giving!  On the other hand, the positive stuff takes a little longer, might seem a little hard to get our hands around, and sometimes even seems to evade us! Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not ...

Reputation:  the estimation in which a person or thing is held; a good name; a good standing based on merit, achievement, or reliability.  Most of us go through life hoping to achieve a good reputation.  Yet, it never ceases to amaze me how people go about making a name for themselves - sometimes doing more to tarnish their repute than to improve it!  We only have to look at our star athletes, public figures, and media personalities to understand how the most inappropriate decisions can absolutely destroy one's good name. Sometimes it doesn't even matter how much "good" one has done - the one moment of folly and ill-chosen choices makes for a more lasting repute than all the good!  Maybe this is why we are told to earn a reputation for living well in God's eyes - and in the eyes of the people.  When our choices align with what God declares to be good - the actions which follow will almost certainly produce the results of "building up" one's reputatio...