Walking The Walk

The one who is faithful in a very little thing is also faithful in much; and the one who is unrighteous in a very little thing is also unrighteous in much. ~Luke 16:10 We donate clothes to Goodwill often. Several times a year.  And both my daughters and my wife like to shop at the Goodwill thrift store.  I went with them once, and while I was there, I found a nice men's button up shirt I liked.  I bought it for like $6.  We get home and we're comparing treasures, and I show my wife the shirt I bought.  "That's your shirt!" Valerie said.  "You donated that in the last batch we took in."   I'd bought my own shirt back.  But I got a great deal!  The first time I bought it, it was like $30!   A couple weeks ago, Valerie was scanning photos from an old album, and she found some of us back when we first started dating, nearly 30 years ago.  I was a lot thinner then, and wearing button fly 501 jeans and a plaid shirt over a t-shi...

Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life. Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?"   ~Luke 12:25-26 In Luke Chapter 12 verses 22-34, Jesus talks about three specific enemies.  Worry.  Fear.  Selfishness.  The first one He talks about is worry, and that's the one he has the most to say about.  Twice in these verses He commands us not to worry.  In verse 22 He says, "Do not worry about your life." And in verse 29 He says when it comes to food and drink and all those needs we have in our life, "Do not worry about it."  He says God knows we need them and will provide them. There's actually two different words used here for worry.  The first Greek word refers to our mind being distracted.  That's a pretty accurate description of worry.  The Greek word used in the second command is only used once in the New Testament.  The Greek word meteorizomai -- from that word we get the...

“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” ~Luke 6:37-38 We are so quick to judge others today.  We're so quick to condemn.  We are so slow to forgive.  I've never seen things the way they are today.  The complete opposite of what Jesus taught is what we're seeing today.   We talk so much about being "tolerant."  But then we're only tolerant of people exactly like us. We talk so much about being "inclusive."  And we accomplish that by dividing and excluding entire groups of people based on factors they have no control over.  We talk about being understanding and forgiving and kind and generous.  But we only show these things to people we like.   We talk about lov...

“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven." ~Luke 6:36 (CSB) One of the hardest things in life is forgiving.  When we are hurt.  When we are treated poorly.  When we feel like we've been cheated.  Man, is it hard to get over those feelings.   We're not called on to be doormats.  We aren't expected to let people treat us badly over and over again.  We're not called on to let the same crook cheat us over and over again.  Or to let the same liar mislead us time and again.  But we aren't built to carry unforgiveness with us either.  We need to learn the lesson, and let it go. There's a saying "live and learn."  Life is a learning experience, and we learn through successes, and we learn through failure--and believe me, we learn a lot more sometimes from failures than successes.  Some of the hardest lessons we learn are about people.  People ...

Throughout my entire life, I've dealt with critics and naysayers.  I've been told by others what my limitations are.  I've been told by others what my weaknesses are.  I've had all my mental disorders diagnosed by these same armchair pop psychologists.   These critics have been predicting my spiraling fall into disgrace and destruction for decades and they get increasingly upset when it doesn't happen.  Because they all have one thing in common--they are all completely wrong. And I just don't stop and waste time trying to convince them of that.  It would be a pointless waste of time because you'll never convince them.   We all deal with people like this.  It doesn't matter how good a person you are, somebody is going to be standing along the sidelines of life rooting for your failure.  I don't know why that is, but it's true.  Of course that says volumes more about the critic than it does the criticized, but dealing with critics is ...