Thoughts From the Bible

Luke 6: 41-"And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not perceive the plank in your own eye?"  When it comes to personal responsibility, this is a very telling sentence from Jesus. This directly addresses hypocrisy and is instructive to how we should be examining ourselves. Daily life can be very complicated but, as Christians, we are responsible to live our lives as true as we can.  We need to routinely examine how we live our lives and not condemn others for their behavior when we may have a much bigger problem in our own lives. This is why we need to be very careful in our criticism and negative comments about other people and their actions. We need to constantly examine our behaviors and our motives so we can present our lives as true as humanly possible.    Proverbs 12:15- The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who heeds counsel is wise.  

Luke 6: 39-40- (39) And He spoke a parable to them, "Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into the ditch? (40) A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher."  Jesus is telling the people they must learn about God through reading the scriptures and thinking about how the scriptures apply to their daily lives. If we are not educated about the teachings of Jesus, we cannot teach other people. If someone learns from a teacher, they can teach as their mentor does. We need to study. We need to continue to read the scriptures and learn how to apply Biblical principles to how they live every day .  Today, we need to be careful of those "teachers" who have decided to fashion their own interpretations of how they want the scriptures to be, not how they are. Some of these teachers are refashioning their teaching so it can accommodate the sins of their friends and loved ones. We need to work to be grounde...

Luke 6: 38- "Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you."  There are so many one verse sermons in Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. This verse teaches me two lessons. The first lesson is that I should be giving of my means to serve others and to promote the overall mission of Jesus' message. Yes, this means I need to be prepared to give my money. I also need to be prepared to give of whatever I might have, including my time.  I also need to see that the grace I give to others, whatever that might look like, Jesus will extend that same grace to me. I know that I cannot ever give the amount of grace to someone that Jesus has given me, but my lesson is to find ways to extend grace to people whether they deserve it or not. I do not need to be concerned about what will be "measured back to me ", I need to practic...

Luke 6:37- "Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned, Forgive, and you will be forgiven."  There is much included in this one verse. Jesus is telling us it is wrong to determine if someone is right or wrong in a given situation unless you want to be held to the same standard. Jesus will be the one who will judge people. Some people get confused by this verse and think Jesus will dismiss all their sins because they did not condemn others for what they do. Jesus is the only judge. Jesus is directing us to give others grace in situations where someone has been wronged.  We do not know the motivations of the heart, and we do not have the complete picture of another person's life. We may know a person is violating one of God's principles, but we are to stand ready to forgive and then help that person focus on God's principles.     Proverbs 12:8 - A man will be commended according to his wisdom, but he who is of a perv...

Luke 6:36- "Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful."  Mercy is in short supply in our society today and it appears it was probably in short supply when Jesus was speaking with the people. We are so often quick to attack others in our opinions or our actions and look to take advantage of people when they are having issues. Mercy is not something that leaps to the forefront of our minds. Jesus is telling us in connection with the previous verse about loving our enemies, we need to be the first to show mercy to others. Why?  God is merciful to us first. Being quick to show mercy when someone is failing is the ideal opportunity to display God's love for others. It is a great opportunity to live out our testimony of our faith in Jesus Christ. Being kind to others when mistakes have been made is a testimony to our belief in Christ. Helping another person through a trial is another opportunity to be the hands and feet of God.    Proverbs 12: 7- Th...

Luke 6: 32-35-  "But love your enemies, do good and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High . For He is kind to the unthankful and evil."  Jesus is teaching us about unconditional love and an unconditional commitment to other people. I see this as the way we live our lives as being a testimony to our faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus wants to see us as better than those who do not believe in Him. Jesus is expecting us to live our lives at a higher level than non-believers.  We need to commit to living this higher level of life so others will want to follow Jesus because of His promise of the reward being great. In this age of high temptation, we need to lean on the strength of Jesus to live this life of a higher level and know there will be temptations designed by Satan to weaken our testimonies. We need to stay prepared by continuing to read the Bible and continuing to pray for God's strength.    Prov...

Luke 6:31- "And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise."  There are many sayings people can use as mantras for their life. Some people like one quick sentence they can always fall back on when they want to guide their lives in a certain direction. This short sentence by Jesus Christ is one of the directives Jesus gave in the Sermon on the Mount that we can all use to guide our lives.  There are  so many such commands Jesus gave that are written in the scriptures, but this verse can easily guide our interactions with anyone in our lives. This approach to other people will never grow old or out of date. This is a teaching that helps us to focus on others and not be selfish in our approach to life and other people.   Proverbs 12: 4- An excellent wife is the crown of her husband, but she who causes shame is like rottenness in his bones.