Judge each day not by the harvest you reap but by the seeds you plant.
(Author unknown)
That’s good advice. First, we can’t know what the harvest will be. Second, it may be others who do the harvesting. Third, we are responsible only for what we are given to do. Planting good seed in the lives of others is our task and will be rewarded.
He who sows righteousness reaps a sure reward. (Proverbs 11:18)
When you judge another, you do not define them, you define yourself.
(Inspiration Line)
Most people are inclined to make judgments about others. When we do so before knowing the facts, it’s called prejudice. We’d do well to live so we are not thought of as judgmental. It’s a bad reflection on our character.
Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? (Matthew 7:3)
We get the leaders in the future that we make now.
(Dr. Randy Smith, American pastor and Bible teacher)
Virtually every organization and business in the world is looking for qualified leaders. Smith is making the point that rather than looking for them, we should be making them now. When we “grow” our future leaders, we’ll know what to expect from their leadership.
The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher. (Luke 6:40)
No law can give me the right to do what is wrong. (Abraham Lincoln)
Laws and rules are set in place not only to keep us from doing wrong, but to help us do what is right. If a person of high moral and ethical standards is faced with a law that would cause him to do wrong, he must follow a higher law.
Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings! (Acts 5:29)
As we live, things inevitably change; they cannot stay the same no matter how hard we try to keep them the way they were. (UPI newsletter)
How true! The only thing that doesn’t change is change itself. It’s a part of life. So, if we’re looking for something that is constant, unchanging, we have to look above and beyond our human experience.
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father . . . who does not change like shifting shadows. (James 1:17)
Work is not always required of man. There is such a thing as sacred idleness, the cultivation of which is now fearfully neglected. (George MacDonald, Scottish author, poet, and Christian minister.)
Today is labor day in the United States (Labour Day in Canada), a time to celebrate hard work, a necessity for personal success and progress in society. But MacDonald reminds us that there is more to life than work. We need quiet time to reflect and grow inwardly.
Jesus: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)
When God takes something from your grasp, He’s not punishing you, but merely opening your hands to receive something better. (Fred Donehoo, Christian educator)
When we grasp things too tightly, it will hurt to have them pried from us. If we hold things too close, we may become more interested in possessing “stuff” than using our hands to serve. Better to hold things loosely and be ready to receive something better.
These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised since God had planned something better for us. (Hebrews 11:39-40)
The talent for being happy is appreciating and liking what you have, instead of what you don’t have. (Woody Allen, American screenwriter, actor, and comedian)
Allen has put into words what many have discovered by sad experience. Always wanting something more or better is a direct and certain path to unhappiness.
If we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. (1 Timothy 6:8)