Marriage, friendship, parenting and living at peace with others.
A boss who creates a toxic environment for the workers is not a believer. Believers were commanded in our text to treat their workers well. The test of faith for believers and their commitment to Christ is in how they treat their workers.
The best lesson is a lesson that has great benefits to the learner and the community they live in. The best lesson should be available to everyone so everyone is exposed to the best lesson. If we learn what is in the Bible text today, we would have learned a very important and excellent lesson in life.
Once it comes out, it’s too late to reverse its effects. No apology will undo the harm. You may be forgiven but the scar will remain in the mind. The best you can do is to keep it in and let it be processed from there. Many relationships lost it because unwholesome talk came out in a moment of anger. Reconciliation was done, but now they must live with the scar. The Bible gives us the best advice on what to do when the unwholesome talk is developing within us. Do not let it come out!
A goal that God has chosen for us to work on is a worthy goal. It is a worthy goal because God does not make mistakes. God is not engaged in trial and error. When God gives a goal, that is a worthy goal. If we attain that worthy goal, we shall achieve and experience much more good than we ever anticipated. Are you working towards this worthy goal?
Knowing God exposes you to the greatest power. With God nothing is impossible. With God, every promise is guaranteed. God can not even be compared to those miserable and weak forces that people relied on before Jesus came. Therefore, after knowing God, it is expected that you cannot even consider going back to the obviously weak and miserable forces. How can you turn back to weak and miserable forces?
Lack of knowledge is a major problem facing us today. We think we know but Jesus says, they do not know what they are doing. We speak in confidence, but Jesus says if only you knew…. We fight because we do not know that God can fight for us. We revenge because we do not know that God has promised revenge. We steal and take things by force because we do not know that God can give them for free and even something much better. We worry because we do not know that God has good plans for us and He is never too late. If only we knew…
Human beings love to be praised. We love people who say good things about us even if they are not the truth. Sycophants mislead influential people because they feed their need for attention and praise. Yet sycophants are like demons, they praise anyone who can do them a favor. They are never genuine. They are on a self-preservation mission. Sycophants would curse whoever they just praised if that curse would preserve them from harm. Their praise, therefore, is not genuine. The same crowds that cheered Jesus during the triumphant entry into Jerusalem are the same crowds that jeered Him to be crucified. True praises that Jesus rejected!
Has the word of God offended you? Are you angry at what has been preached, taught, and said? Ask yourself if anger can change the truth. When anger changes nothing, change that anger into acceptance of the truth!
How students will treat us in the future when they make it in life and are in charge as we retire is being determined today by how we treat them. They may not voice it, but it’s happening. They may not know but they will remember. When they no longer have to worry about how you will grade them, how will they treat you? You don’t know but it’s happening!