a final sign that anybody you’ve ever met has hanging around their neck is scenic route.
this takes a moment of explanation. typically, we’ll see this sign when we’re cruising down the freeway going about 75 miles an hour (unless you have a permit license driver in the car with you!). at 75, everything out of your peripheral vision is blurry because you’re going so fast and then that sign appears. you know what it’s really saying. it’s saying, “slow down and take a look.” it’s saying, “hey buddy, hey gal! there’s a lot here to see if you’ll only take the time.”
it’s the sign hanging on the neck of every person you’ve ever locked eyes with. it says, “slow down. take the time to see me how GOD sees me.”
looking beyond exterior things and seeing the real worth of a person is the theme of some movies a few years back. i don’t know if you saw the movie shallow hal, but that was the premise of that movie. it’s seeing the inner beauty of a person and not paying attention to the exterior shallow things. the movie shrek is about this woman who was afraid, if you really saw who i was, you wouldn’t like me. but when the guy sees who she is, he does like her still. it’s that ability to see beyond.
look what the bible says in romans 12.16 (msg), get along with each other. don’t be stuck up. make friends with nobodies. don’t be the great somebody. or ephesians 4.2 (nlt), be humble and gentle. be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.
there’s a controversial discussion going in america these days. it’s the discussion around the word “profiling.” i understand why the discussion is happening. but i detest the idea that’s behind it. i can’t say strongly enough how wrong i feel that is. yet i’m honest enough to know – and i hope you are – that you and i do this with great regularity. we diminish people or we overlook people because they have certain physical characteristics or certain personality traits or they come from a different economic background or have lesser educational achievements or they’re wearing a different colored skin. we sort of categorize and overlook and disrespect, and in our minds we say, “they are less than we are.” we make those value judgments all the time. i hate that when i see it in me. i hate it when i see it anywhere.
just a thought from the front porch…
Showing posts with label respect. Show all posts
Showing posts with label respect. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
just do your best…
malachi 1.6 (niv) says, the LORD almighty says, “I am your FATHER and MASTER. but where are the honor and the respect that I deserve? you have despised MY name.” if you were to keep reading in that text, the people ask GOD, “how have we despised YOUr name?” and GOD says “you’ve despised my name by offering defiled sacrifices.” and the people said, “how have we done that?” and GOD says, “here’s an example.
instead of finding the best lamb from your flock and offering that as a sacrifice, you’re bringing ME lambs that are crippled and blind and sick. it’s like you’re going out into your field and you find a little feeble lamb leaning against the fence about to die. you figure he’s not going to make it anyway and that’s the guy you bring to me.” and GOD says, “if that’s the way you’re going to worship ME, don’t bother.”
HE doesn’t expect perfection. HE knows we are incapable of giving that. but are you doing your best? maybe even as you might go to church, you don’t give much thought to the honor or the value you’d show the LORD through your actions. like at the time in the service when you have the opportunity to give an offering do you give any thought to the offering you’ll give to GOD? to say, “GOD, i really do love YOU.” or how about when you’re singing? do you give any thought to singing in such a way as if to say, “GOD, you really do matter to me.” or during the time of teaching, do you have an attitude of, “GOD, what do YOU have to say to me today? i really want to do it YOUr way.” worship is about GOD; it’s not about us. taking our eyes off self and looking at GOD.
that’s what service is. service is about others. it’s not about i or me or mine. it’s unselfishness. it’s not treating people like you are here to meet my needs or advance my career or fulfill my dream.
there was a dramatic scene played out by actors. one actor was the leader of an organization and the other actor was his personal assistant. the leader was depressed over the way that people were not responding to his leadership in the way they once had. so his assistant began to explain to him why. she said, “when you first came here, david, you talked a lot about ‘us’ and ‘we’ and ‘the team.’ you challenged us with what we could do together, the hills we could climb side by side. and everyone liked the first david. but that david is gone now. now you just talk about you, what you’re doing, what you’ve accomplished, it’s all about you. and i’ll be honest. i don’t like the second david.” then she said. “nobody around here wants to give their life just so you can pin another medal on your chest.”
and as someone who helps lead from time to time, i thought, “would the people in my world, my family, my co-workers say the same thing about me if given the chance to speak honestly?”
how about you? do you live in such a way that even subtly you communicate to others that they are here for you? or do i in any way show others their value by being there for them? it’s called service. and at the end of the day it’s called respect.
just a thought from the front porch…
instead of finding the best lamb from your flock and offering that as a sacrifice, you’re bringing ME lambs that are crippled and blind and sick. it’s like you’re going out into your field and you find a little feeble lamb leaning against the fence about to die. you figure he’s not going to make it anyway and that’s the guy you bring to me.” and GOD says, “if that’s the way you’re going to worship ME, don’t bother.”
HE doesn’t expect perfection. HE knows we are incapable of giving that. but are you doing your best? maybe even as you might go to church, you don’t give much thought to the honor or the value you’d show the LORD through your actions. like at the time in the service when you have the opportunity to give an offering do you give any thought to the offering you’ll give to GOD? to say, “GOD, i really do love YOU.” or how about when you’re singing? do you give any thought to singing in such a way as if to say, “GOD, you really do matter to me.” or during the time of teaching, do you have an attitude of, “GOD, what do YOU have to say to me today? i really want to do it YOUr way.” worship is about GOD; it’s not about us. taking our eyes off self and looking at GOD.
that’s what service is. service is about others. it’s not about i or me or mine. it’s unselfishness. it’s not treating people like you are here to meet my needs or advance my career or fulfill my dream.
there was a dramatic scene played out by actors. one actor was the leader of an organization and the other actor was his personal assistant. the leader was depressed over the way that people were not responding to his leadership in the way they once had. so his assistant began to explain to him why. she said, “when you first came here, david, you talked a lot about ‘us’ and ‘we’ and ‘the team.’ you challenged us with what we could do together, the hills we could climb side by side. and everyone liked the first david. but that david is gone now. now you just talk about you, what you’re doing, what you’ve accomplished, it’s all about you. and i’ll be honest. i don’t like the second david.” then she said. “nobody around here wants to give their life just so you can pin another medal on your chest.”
and as someone who helps lead from time to time, i thought, “would the people in my world, my family, my co-workers say the same thing about me if given the chance to speak honestly?”
how about you? do you live in such a way that even subtly you communicate to others that they are here for you? or do i in any way show others their value by being there for them? it’s called service. and at the end of the day it’s called respect.
just a thought from the front porch…
Monday, August 2, 2010
courteous in the beginning...
we are looking in 1 corinthians 13 at what love is and verse 5 (niv) says, love is not rude or in otherwords love is respectful. one of the traits of respect is to yield your rights and serve.
so what does yielding and serving look like? well, there are dozens of examples i could give but i’m just going to give you a couple. one example of yielding and serving looks a whole lot like courtesy, common courtesy.
there is a sharp comparison in luke 7 that JESUS drew between the lack of courtesy that the pharisee, simon withheld and all of the courtesy that the woman gave? verses 44-46 (cev), he turned toward the woman and said to simon, “have you noticed this woman? when I came into your home, you didn't give ME any water so I could wash MY feet. but she has washed MY feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. you didn't greet ME with a kiss, but from the time I came in, she has not stopped kissing MY feet. you didn't even pour olive oil on MY head, but she has poured expensive perfume on MY feet.” JESUS was just talking about fundamental courtesy. just the courtesy and customs of the day.
we used to be so courteous as young men. why do we act courteous early in the relationship, but we’re not courteous as the months and years go along. maybe for your wife or girlfriend, you used to open the car door for them. now you’re half way across the parking lot, and you don’t even know if she’s still in the car. like, “what’s wrong with you? is your arm broken?!?” specifically for the husbands. why do you stop serving and being courteous just because you’re now married?
here’s another. service is also when we do our very best for others. when we do a deed of kindness, but we do it with a lot of reluctance, that’s not really service. but when we do our best for others, it does really show that we’re wanting to serve and that they really do matter to us.
notice the word expensive. this woman didn’t come with a that-will-do attitude. she didn’t just “get by.” she probably had cheaper perfume. but she wanted to do for the SON of GOD her very best. other versions said it’s a rare perfume – rare, expensive perfume. she wanted to offer her best. this is one way we do show honor and respect for GOD. it’s not like GOD expects us to bring HIM something that’s perfect. none of us can do that. all of us are imperfect people. but HE does expect that we bring HIM our best.
just a thought from the front porch…
so what does yielding and serving look like? well, there are dozens of examples i could give but i’m just going to give you a couple. one example of yielding and serving looks a whole lot like courtesy, common courtesy.
there is a sharp comparison in luke 7 that JESUS drew between the lack of courtesy that the pharisee, simon withheld and all of the courtesy that the woman gave? verses 44-46 (cev), he turned toward the woman and said to simon, “have you noticed this woman? when I came into your home, you didn't give ME any water so I could wash MY feet. but she has washed MY feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. you didn't greet ME with a kiss, but from the time I came in, she has not stopped kissing MY feet. you didn't even pour olive oil on MY head, but she has poured expensive perfume on MY feet.” JESUS was just talking about fundamental courtesy. just the courtesy and customs of the day.
we used to be so courteous as young men. why do we act courteous early in the relationship, but we’re not courteous as the months and years go along. maybe for your wife or girlfriend, you used to open the car door for them. now you’re half way across the parking lot, and you don’t even know if she’s still in the car. like, “what’s wrong with you? is your arm broken?!?” specifically for the husbands. why do you stop serving and being courteous just because you’re now married?
here’s another. service is also when we do our very best for others. when we do a deed of kindness, but we do it with a lot of reluctance, that’s not really service. but when we do our best for others, it does really show that we’re wanting to serve and that they really do matter to us.
notice the word expensive. this woman didn’t come with a that-will-do attitude. she didn’t just “get by.” she probably had cheaper perfume. but she wanted to do for the SON of GOD her very best. other versions said it’s a rare perfume – rare, expensive perfume. she wanted to offer her best. this is one way we do show honor and respect for GOD. it’s not like GOD expects us to bring HIM something that’s perfect. none of us can do that. all of us are imperfect people. but HE does expect that we bring HIM our best.
just a thought from the front porch…
Sunday, August 1, 2010
my wife is not a scorekeeper…
another sign you see hanging around everybody’s neck is the yield sign. it basically means yield your rights and serve.
when other people want to be first in line, get all the attention, have everybody waiting on them or doing for them or it’s all about them, those who are around people like that never feel respected. but if somebody ever puts aside their rights and gives back in an act of service, you really feel like you matter to that person.
this story in luke 7 about this woman and JESUS is so tender, and it’s a picture of her service to the LORD. without a word, without mention of the value of her deed, without thinking of the expense or the shame or the work or the demeaning nature of what she was doing, she just came to the feet of GOD’s SON and she served HIM.
have you ever had anybody in your life who has served you, with no thought to their own needs or desires? or have you ever served someone like that?
paul wrote these words in 2 corinthians 12.15 (niv), so i will very gladly spend for you everything i have and expend myself as well. isn’t that a beautiful verse?
i get to see a servant’s heart up-close and personal almost every day of my life in my wife, margaret. she is such a servant. there are so many little things she does. she never fights for the remote control, never insists that we watch what she wants on tv. she’s the first one to get up and answer the phone because i am very reluctant to do that. it’s these small acts of service that makes me feel so honored and so valuable in her sight. she’s quite amazing. probably the most amazing thing of all about margaret is she’s not a scorekeeper.
serving is not scorekeeping. our culture says, “i do for you, now you owe so many acts of service back to me.” “i did this, now it’s your turn to do that.” we get into this tit for tat, back and forth scorekeeping. i’ve seen so many shallow friendships, so many shallow marriages built on that kind of selfishness. the bottom line is that’s what it is. it’s not yielding, it’s not serving.
just a thought from the front porch…
when other people want to be first in line, get all the attention, have everybody waiting on them or doing for them or it’s all about them, those who are around people like that never feel respected. but if somebody ever puts aside their rights and gives back in an act of service, you really feel like you matter to that person.
this story in luke 7 about this woman and JESUS is so tender, and it’s a picture of her service to the LORD. without a word, without mention of the value of her deed, without thinking of the expense or the shame or the work or the demeaning nature of what she was doing, she just came to the feet of GOD’s SON and she served HIM.
have you ever had anybody in your life who has served you, with no thought to their own needs or desires? or have you ever served someone like that?
paul wrote these words in 2 corinthians 12.15 (niv), so i will very gladly spend for you everything i have and expend myself as well. isn’t that a beautiful verse?
i get to see a servant’s heart up-close and personal almost every day of my life in my wife, margaret. she is such a servant. there are so many little things she does. she never fights for the remote control, never insists that we watch what she wants on tv. she’s the first one to get up and answer the phone because i am very reluctant to do that. it’s these small acts of service that makes me feel so honored and so valuable in her sight. she’s quite amazing. probably the most amazing thing of all about margaret is she’s not a scorekeeper.
serving is not scorekeeping. our culture says, “i do for you, now you owe so many acts of service back to me.” “i did this, now it’s your turn to do that.” we get into this tit for tat, back and forth scorekeeping. i’ve seen so many shallow friendships, so many shallow marriages built on that kind of selfishness. the bottom line is that’s what it is. it’s not yielding, it’s not serving.
just a thought from the front porch…
Saturday, July 31, 2010
HE always has kept HIS promise…
proverbs 25.14 (msg) says, people who promise things that they never give are like clouds and wind that bring no rain. could JESUS have been any clearer when HE declared in matthew 5.37 (niv), just let your “yes” be “yes” and your “no” be “no.” keep your word.
i think most of the time when we break our promises, we break them because we made those promises hastily. we didn’t think about our schedule or the schedule of others. we didn’t consider what might or might not happen. we just made a rash commitment, and because we didn’t plan ahead, we end up breaking promise after promise.
the bible talks about that too, in proverbs 3.21,22 (nlt), good planning and insight fill you with life and they bring you honor and respect.
have you ever noticed how valuable promises are to children? kids really want us to keep our promises. as a matter of fact, if you make a commitment to them, they’ll ask you, “promise?” and we’ll say, “yes.” but that’s not enough for them. they’ll follow it up with, “hope to die?” yes. that’s not enough for them, so they’ll follow it up with, “stick a needle in your eye?” i was wondering how cool that would be in a marriage ceremony. can’t you imagine in a corporate board room – an executive, a ceo – and they’re doing a deal, and one says to the other, “promise? hope to die? stick a needle in your eye?”
GOD models this idea for us because HE keeps all of HIS promises. every promise HE’s ever made, HE’s kept. all the way through the bible. start way back in the book of genesis, the first book of the bible. after the flood had destroyed the world, GOD told noah, “I will never again destroy the world with water. and to seal that promise,” GOD said, “I’ll give you a sign. that sign will be a rainbow and every time you see that sign, you’ll remember MY promise.”
keep turning pages in the bible. GOD comes to 99-year-old abraham and 89-year-old sarah, and HE promised that they would have a baby. and from that child would come many nations. and the entire world would be blessed through their lineage. think about it – 99 and 89 and a baby! there wouldn’t be a single tooth in the whole family! they’d be the only couple in target buying pampers and depends at the same time. to seal HIS promise to them, GOD said, “I’ll give you a sign.” it was the sign of circumcision. abraham could have said, “how come noah got a rainbow?”
GOD promised through the process that HE would send a SAVIOR who’d forgive us of our sins and be our friend and comfort and teach and lead us. and HE sent HIS SON, JESUS. and when JESUS came, HE made a promise that GOD would love us and would forgive us and would one day welcome us into heaven if we trusted HIM. HE sealed this promise of love, this new covenant, this new testament, with HIS blood when HE died on a cross. every time CHRISTians take communion, we reflect on that promise and we feel valued and honored by GOD.
folks you and i have great worth and you and i show value and honor to others when we keep our promises to them.
just a thought from the front porch…
i think most of the time when we break our promises, we break them because we made those promises hastily. we didn’t think about our schedule or the schedule of others. we didn’t consider what might or might not happen. we just made a rash commitment, and because we didn’t plan ahead, we end up breaking promise after promise.
the bible talks about that too, in proverbs 3.21,22 (nlt), good planning and insight fill you with life and they bring you honor and respect.
have you ever noticed how valuable promises are to children? kids really want us to keep our promises. as a matter of fact, if you make a commitment to them, they’ll ask you, “promise?” and we’ll say, “yes.” but that’s not enough for them. they’ll follow it up with, “hope to die?” yes. that’s not enough for them, so they’ll follow it up with, “stick a needle in your eye?” i was wondering how cool that would be in a marriage ceremony. can’t you imagine in a corporate board room – an executive, a ceo – and they’re doing a deal, and one says to the other, “promise? hope to die? stick a needle in your eye?”
GOD models this idea for us because HE keeps all of HIS promises. every promise HE’s ever made, HE’s kept. all the way through the bible. start way back in the book of genesis, the first book of the bible. after the flood had destroyed the world, GOD told noah, “I will never again destroy the world with water. and to seal that promise,” GOD said, “I’ll give you a sign. that sign will be a rainbow and every time you see that sign, you’ll remember MY promise.”
keep turning pages in the bible. GOD comes to 99-year-old abraham and 89-year-old sarah, and HE promised that they would have a baby. and from that child would come many nations. and the entire world would be blessed through their lineage. think about it – 99 and 89 and a baby! there wouldn’t be a single tooth in the whole family! they’d be the only couple in target buying pampers and depends at the same time. to seal HIS promise to them, GOD said, “I’ll give you a sign.” it was the sign of circumcision. abraham could have said, “how come noah got a rainbow?”
GOD promised through the process that HE would send a SAVIOR who’d forgive us of our sins and be our friend and comfort and teach and lead us. and HE sent HIS SON, JESUS. and when JESUS came, HE made a promise that GOD would love us and would forgive us and would one day welcome us into heaven if we trusted HIM. HE sealed this promise of love, this new covenant, this new testament, with HIS blood when HE died on a cross. every time CHRISTians take communion, we reflect on that promise and we feel valued and honored by GOD.
folks you and i have great worth and you and i show value and honor to others when we keep our promises to them.
just a thought from the front porch…
Friday, July 30, 2010
honored and respected, or discounted and disrespected?...
an invisible sign you’ll see hanging around the neck of every person you’ll ever encounter is the sign, no u-turn. here’s what it means: keep your promises.
you tell people you’re going to do such and such, and they really want to believe you. she said this, so that’s the direction she’s going. but before you know it you have turned the wheel and squealed the tire and you’re going in an opposite direction from the commitment that you made to those people around you.
if you look at this encounter between JESUS and the woman in luke 7.36-50 you will find a remarkable promise being made. in verse 48 (nlt) JESUS says to the woman, your sins are forgiven, and JESUS keeps all HIS promises.
have you ever had someone break a promise to you? they told you they were going to do something that was very important, and they didn’t do it. did that make you feel honored and respected, or did it make you feel discounted and disrespected?
i heard a story of an 18 year old ministry student, who’s a really sharp guy. very aggressive. wants to be a pastor. one of his goals is to interview the leading pastors in america, but some of these guys are quite popular and their schedules are full and it’s tough to get an appointment with them. but this young guy is trying. he called a guy out of state. this guy didn’t know him. he’s 18 years old, a college student, but this pastor in the mid west at a large church not only gave him an appointment but it was a lunch appointment. this kid was thrilled.
it just so happened that this appointment was set the week after the 9/11 attack happened. on the morning of the appointment, he got up way before 6 a.m. to make the long drive across a couple of states to get to the church in time for lunch. after he’d already gotten on the road, the pastor’s assistant called to his home. the young man’s father answered. the assistant said, “the pastor was wondering if there was any way he could reschedule with your son.” the father said, “my son is already on the road, and he’ll be there in a few hours. he’ll understand if you just explain it to him when he gets there.” about 15 minutes later, the pastor himself called. he said, “i understand that your son’s already on the road. i just want you to know that i’ve canceled all my other commitments. i gave my word to your son. i’m going to be meeting him for lunch.”
that 18-year-old did meet the pastor. they had a two-hour lunch interview. afterward, the young man drove the pastor back to his church and dropped him off. a staff person was standing by. he walked over to the young guy and said, “i don’t know who you are, but i just wanted you to know that our pastor today had been asked to be on a nationally broadcast radio program that was going to go to every state. he was asked to talk for two hours about the crisis and the spiritual dilemma in our nation right now. but he canceled that because he made a promise to you.”
the young guy said, “i learned more about leadership and integrity in that moment than i did from all the things we talked about at lunch.”
just a thought from the front porch…
you tell people you’re going to do such and such, and they really want to believe you. she said this, so that’s the direction she’s going. but before you know it you have turned the wheel and squealed the tire and you’re going in an opposite direction from the commitment that you made to those people around you.
if you look at this encounter between JESUS and the woman in luke 7.36-50 you will find a remarkable promise being made. in verse 48 (nlt) JESUS says to the woman, your sins are forgiven, and JESUS keeps all HIS promises.
have you ever had someone break a promise to you? they told you they were going to do something that was very important, and they didn’t do it. did that make you feel honored and respected, or did it make you feel discounted and disrespected?
i heard a story of an 18 year old ministry student, who’s a really sharp guy. very aggressive. wants to be a pastor. one of his goals is to interview the leading pastors in america, but some of these guys are quite popular and their schedules are full and it’s tough to get an appointment with them. but this young guy is trying. he called a guy out of state. this guy didn’t know him. he’s 18 years old, a college student, but this pastor in the mid west at a large church not only gave him an appointment but it was a lunch appointment. this kid was thrilled.
it just so happened that this appointment was set the week after the 9/11 attack happened. on the morning of the appointment, he got up way before 6 a.m. to make the long drive across a couple of states to get to the church in time for lunch. after he’d already gotten on the road, the pastor’s assistant called to his home. the young man’s father answered. the assistant said, “the pastor was wondering if there was any way he could reschedule with your son.” the father said, “my son is already on the road, and he’ll be there in a few hours. he’ll understand if you just explain it to him when he gets there.” about 15 minutes later, the pastor himself called. he said, “i understand that your son’s already on the road. i just want you to know that i’ve canceled all my other commitments. i gave my word to your son. i’m going to be meeting him for lunch.”
that 18-year-old did meet the pastor. they had a two-hour lunch interview. afterward, the young man drove the pastor back to his church and dropped him off. a staff person was standing by. he walked over to the young guy and said, “i don’t know who you are, but i just wanted you to know that our pastor today had been asked to be on a nationally broadcast radio program that was going to go to every state. he was asked to talk for two hours about the crisis and the spiritual dilemma in our nation right now. but he canceled that because he made a promise to you.”
the young guy said, “i learned more about leadership and integrity in that moment than i did from all the things we talked about at lunch.”
just a thought from the front porch…
Thursday, July 29, 2010
the rolling conversational stop…
have you lived as a parent through the experience of your teenager having a driver’s permit? i’ve discovered that permit drivers will point out any kind of driving sin that you make as a parent. one would be the crime of the rolling stop. they point out when you don’t completely stop. that you just roll right on through; you’re in a hurry to go again.
that’s probably a good example of what we do often in our conversations. we only stop long enough to catch our breath and to think about what we want to say next, and then we roll right on through that conversational intersection.
john ortberg in his teaching on relational intelligence tells a great story. he says, “years ago my parents and i were stuck in a room with a mom and her 8-year-old son as we each waited for a family member to show up on family day at college. for one hour, this woman did not stop talking. she made don king look like an introvert. and it’s not because we weren’t sending her signals because we were. nobody would make eye contact with her. we were afraid that might encourage her. nobody was nodding at her. our bodies were facing the other direction. she could not stop talking. it was if she had taken some powerful verbal laxative. her words were out of control. finally after an hour of this her daughter came up stairs and into the room. the woman stood up and said, “gotta go,’ but she kept on talking the whole way out the door. ‘i’ve got so many things to do,’ she told us who didn’t care at all. ‘i’ve got errands to run, i’ve got dinners to fix, i’ve got to pick up your dad. and oh, yes, i’ve got to get some buttons.’ then her 8-year-old son spoke, the only words he’d said the whole hour. he looked at his mother and said, ‘mother, you need a button for your mouth.’ we all felt this was the prompting of the HOLY SPIRIT in the life of that little boy.”
let me give you an idea. why don’t you get a button and put it in your pocket with your change or put it in your change purse. and every time you reach for change and you feel that button maybe it could be a subtle reminder, “stop talking for a minute and value and honor what someone else has to say.”
stop talking and listen. that shows respect. that shows love.
just a thought from the front porch…
that’s probably a good example of what we do often in our conversations. we only stop long enough to catch our breath and to think about what we want to say next, and then we roll right on through that conversational intersection.
john ortberg in his teaching on relational intelligence tells a great story. he says, “years ago my parents and i were stuck in a room with a mom and her 8-year-old son as we each waited for a family member to show up on family day at college. for one hour, this woman did not stop talking. she made don king look like an introvert. and it’s not because we weren’t sending her signals because we were. nobody would make eye contact with her. we were afraid that might encourage her. nobody was nodding at her. our bodies were facing the other direction. she could not stop talking. it was if she had taken some powerful verbal laxative. her words were out of control. finally after an hour of this her daughter came up stairs and into the room. the woman stood up and said, “gotta go,’ but she kept on talking the whole way out the door. ‘i’ve got so many things to do,’ she told us who didn’t care at all. ‘i’ve got errands to run, i’ve got dinners to fix, i’ve got to pick up your dad. and oh, yes, i’ve got to get some buttons.’ then her 8-year-old son spoke, the only words he’d said the whole hour. he looked at his mother and said, ‘mother, you need a button for your mouth.’ we all felt this was the prompting of the HOLY SPIRIT in the life of that little boy.”
let me give you an idea. why don’t you get a button and put it in your pocket with your change or put it in your change purse. and every time you reach for change and you feel that button maybe it could be a subtle reminder, “stop talking for a minute and value and honor what someone else has to say.”
stop talking and listen. that shows respect. that shows love.
just a thought from the front porch…
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
HE stopped and listened to her…
JESUS CHRIST was absolutely the best in showing honor and love to other people. HE did it by the things that HE would do for them and with them and the words HE would speak into their lives. there’s a little snippet of scripture in luke 7. it’s a slice of life right from the ministry of CHRIST. this is a great story.
luke 7.36-41 (nlt) says, one of the pharisees asked JESUS to come to HIS home for a meal, so JESUS accepted the invitation and sat down to eat. a certain immoral woman heard HE was there and brought a beautiful jar filled with expensive perfume. then she knelt behind HIM at HIS feet, weeping. her tears fell on HIS feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. then she kept kissing HIS feet and putting perfume on them. when the pharisee who was the host saw what was happening and who the woman was, he said to himself, “this proves that JESUS is no prophet. if GOD had really sent HIM, HE would know what kind of woman is touching HIM. she’s a sinner.” JESUS spoke up and answered the pharisee’s thoughts…
there is one invisible sign of respect that is hanging around everybody’s neck. it says stop. we recognize the sign. but when it’s hanging around a person’s neck, it means, “stop talking and listen.”
this story shows what a wonderful listener JESUS was. HE especially listened to this woman. and you can read the story and see that HE listened to simon the pharisee, too. as a matter of fact, HE listened so well to simon the pharisee, the bible says that HE read his thoughts. this was the SON of GOD, and HE was paying good attention to even what simon was thinking. but HE especially listened to this woman.
now the women in this story never said a word but wouldn’t you agree with me that this woman was saying something to JESUS? wouldn’t you agree with me that listening goes way beyond just hearing the words that another person says? it’s seeing what’s in their eyes. it’s feeling what’s in their heart. it’s reading between the lines. it’s listening in the moments of silence. this woman was speaking. she was speaking loudly in her tears and in her service to CHRIST and in the washing of HIS feet and the kissing of HIS feet. she had a message, and JESUS, it seems, was the only one who heard it. HE was the only one listening to her.
some time later in the bible, the apostle paul was writing to the corinthian CHRISTians in 2 corinthians 7.15 (nlt) and he tells about a friend of his who had visited their church. paul says, titus remembers the way you listened to him and welcomed him with such respect and deep concern. why did titus feel respected? because of the way they welcomed him and because of the way they listened to him.
are you a good listener? would people around you say you really are a good listener? do people feel like you’re fully present with them whenever they’re with you? or is there anybody in your world who might just be whispering under their breath, “would you please stop talking? would you please stop advising? stop rambling. stop pontificating. stop hyping! stop hogging the verbal spotlight. would you just stop and listen?”
just a thought from the front porch…
luke 7.36-41 (nlt) says, one of the pharisees asked JESUS to come to HIS home for a meal, so JESUS accepted the invitation and sat down to eat. a certain immoral woman heard HE was there and brought a beautiful jar filled with expensive perfume. then she knelt behind HIM at HIS feet, weeping. her tears fell on HIS feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. then she kept kissing HIS feet and putting perfume on them. when the pharisee who was the host saw what was happening and who the woman was, he said to himself, “this proves that JESUS is no prophet. if GOD had really sent HIM, HE would know what kind of woman is touching HIM. she’s a sinner.” JESUS spoke up and answered the pharisee’s thoughts…
there is one invisible sign of respect that is hanging around everybody’s neck. it says stop. we recognize the sign. but when it’s hanging around a person’s neck, it means, “stop talking and listen.”
this story shows what a wonderful listener JESUS was. HE especially listened to this woman. and you can read the story and see that HE listened to simon the pharisee, too. as a matter of fact, HE listened so well to simon the pharisee, the bible says that HE read his thoughts. this was the SON of GOD, and HE was paying good attention to even what simon was thinking. but HE especially listened to this woman.
now the women in this story never said a word but wouldn’t you agree with me that this woman was saying something to JESUS? wouldn’t you agree with me that listening goes way beyond just hearing the words that another person says? it’s seeing what’s in their eyes. it’s feeling what’s in their heart. it’s reading between the lines. it’s listening in the moments of silence. this woman was speaking. she was speaking loudly in her tears and in her service to CHRIST and in the washing of HIS feet and the kissing of HIS feet. she had a message, and JESUS, it seems, was the only one who heard it. HE was the only one listening to her.
some time later in the bible, the apostle paul was writing to the corinthian CHRISTians in 2 corinthians 7.15 (nlt) and he tells about a friend of his who had visited their church. paul says, titus remembers the way you listened to him and welcomed him with such respect and deep concern. why did titus feel respected? because of the way they welcomed him and because of the way they listened to him.
are you a good listener? would people around you say you really are a good listener? do people feel like you’re fully present with them whenever they’re with you? or is there anybody in your world who might just be whispering under their breath, “would you please stop talking? would you please stop advising? stop rambling. stop pontificating. stop hyping! stop hogging the verbal spotlight. would you just stop and listen?”
just a thought from the front porch…
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
loves shows value and honor...
we’re in this series “what is love,” and we’re looking at different aspects of love as found in 1 corinthians 13. now one aspect of love found here is that it is respectful, it shows respect to others. in verse 5 (niv), we find these words, love is not rude. it is not self seeking.
you sum that up, and it basically means you treat other people respectfully. the idea of respect is talked about a lot in the bible. in deuteronomy 28 and leviticus 19, it tells us to show respect to those who are elderly. in 1 samuel 2, a preacher’s sons were called scoundrels because they showed no respect for the LORD. in ephesians 5 and 6, husbands and wives were taught to respect each other, and slaves and masters were told to have mutual respect as well.
here is a verse that i hope you’ll get into your mind and you’ll think about it through this week and actually through your life. 1 peter 2.17 (nlt) says, show respect for everyone and love your CHRISTian brothers and sisters.
respect is one of those topics we talk about and it’s a word we use a lot, but have you ever given much thought to what the word “respect” really means? i can remember as a little boy my mom saying, “that was disrespectful.” or “you need to show respect in this situation.” but i never had anybody to define that for me.
here’s how i’d like to define respect for our own purposes: respect is showing value and honor to others by our actions. when we dishonor or devalue a person, we could say we disrespected them. we disregarded them. the common vernacular is “we dissed them.” but to respect someone is to show value and honor.
every person that you’ve ever met has around his or her neck an invisible sign. if you look carefully enough, you can almost see it. it’s a sign that says, “do i matter to you?” it’s a sign that says, “do i have any worth at all in your estimation? do you in any way honor or esteem who i am?” and if you look at that sign crying out, “would somebody please show me by their actions that i matter?”
do people feel better or worse after they’ve been with you? this is one way to know whether you’re a respectful person. do they feel inspired, valued, respected? or do they feel worse, diminished, unappreciated? i find there’s some people i feel replenished by and other people i feel very diminished by. there are situations where i find myself renewed and other situations that just wear me out.
just a thought from the front porch…
you sum that up, and it basically means you treat other people respectfully. the idea of respect is talked about a lot in the bible. in deuteronomy 28 and leviticus 19, it tells us to show respect to those who are elderly. in 1 samuel 2, a preacher’s sons were called scoundrels because they showed no respect for the LORD. in ephesians 5 and 6, husbands and wives were taught to respect each other, and slaves and masters were told to have mutual respect as well.
here is a verse that i hope you’ll get into your mind and you’ll think about it through this week and actually through your life. 1 peter 2.17 (nlt) says, show respect for everyone and love your CHRISTian brothers and sisters.
respect is one of those topics we talk about and it’s a word we use a lot, but have you ever given much thought to what the word “respect” really means? i can remember as a little boy my mom saying, “that was disrespectful.” or “you need to show respect in this situation.” but i never had anybody to define that for me.
here’s how i’d like to define respect for our own purposes: respect is showing value and honor to others by our actions. when we dishonor or devalue a person, we could say we disrespected them. we disregarded them. the common vernacular is “we dissed them.” but to respect someone is to show value and honor.
every person that you’ve ever met has around his or her neck an invisible sign. if you look carefully enough, you can almost see it. it’s a sign that says, “do i matter to you?” it’s a sign that says, “do i have any worth at all in your estimation? do you in any way honor or esteem who i am?” and if you look at that sign crying out, “would somebody please show me by their actions that i matter?”
do people feel better or worse after they’ve been with you? this is one way to know whether you’re a respectful person. do they feel inspired, valued, respected? or do they feel worse, diminished, unappreciated? i find there’s some people i feel replenished by and other people i feel very diminished by. there are situations where i find myself renewed and other situations that just wear me out.
just a thought from the front porch…
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)