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When Others Speak of Us

Early in my career, I represented my employer to agents who sold insurance for our company in Northcentral Ohio cities and towns. Most of them were a generation older than me, many in business before I was born. As business owners, they valued their autonomy and exercised their authority; I could attempt to influence their actions through persuasion, but could command nothing. Leaving an agent’s office one day after a particularly difficult discussion, I thought to myself, “I can do this job with thin skin [overly sensitive to criticism] or I can do it with thicker skin. My experience under one approach will be far different than under the other.” As I walked to my car that day, I made a life-decision not to be thin-skinned—no longer would I subject my sense of wellbeing to the whim of others. I have never regretted it.

Most of us are easily influenced by what others think of us, and what they say to us or about us can be troubling—it can “get into our head.” Such was the case with David. Fleeing his own son, Absalom, and hearing what the people were saying about it, David raised the matter before the Almighty, “Many are saying of my soul, ‘There is no salvation for him in God.’”1 Public opinion weighed on Israel’s king, just as the thoughts and words of others weigh on us today. Then how we respond is crucial, for the proverbial, perilous ditches border both sides of the path. Do we retreat into isolation, disengaging from society—our silenced views and opinions in tow—and losing all effectiveness? Do we instead capitulate to critics, compromising our convictions to gain the conditional applause of others? Jesus warns us against such an exchange—truth for acceptance: “Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.”2

After laying his complaint before God, David confessed with his mouth what he knew in his heart to be true: “But You, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, and the One who lifts my head.”3 He chose neither ditch, but walked the road that crested between them. Worldly ways will always tempt us to worldly responses, but wisdom is found in God. He is the One who defines us. He is the One who declares our worth. It is He who accepts us in Christ and sustains us all the days of our life. Our confidence is in Him. We are loved. We are free.

Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe. — Proverbs 29:25

Father, thank You for Your faithfulness. When I am tempted to react to rejection of any kind, draw my thoughts and heart to You, for You sustain me always. I know this full well. In Christ I pray. Amen.

1 Psalm 3:2 NASB
2 Luke 6:26 ESV
3 Psalm 3:3 NASB

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How God Gives

I was helping out a few years ago at “Christmas Cheer,” the Salvation Army’s annual event whereby disadvantaged families in Central Ohio receive groceries for their own holiday feast and a toy for each child in the home. There was the good-natured chatting with the steady stream of folks—engagement is my favorite part of the evening—and plenty of excitement about Christmas. At one point, a man came through the line, accompanying a friend but not filling a cart of his own. A certain resignation contoured his face as he explained to me, “I’m homeless. I can’t take anything because I have no place to keep it.” Who knows how this man got to such a point—addictions, mental illness, exploitation, a series of poor decisions? But this was poverty.

God cares for the poor. His heart is with them and his actions are for them—mind, body and soul. Writes the apostle James to Christian believers, “Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?”1 This is not to suggest poverty itself is a means to heaven, rather faith is, and for many, coming to the end of our own means is the beginning of reliance on God. Could there be a more earnest plea of “Give us this day our daily bread”2 than when uttered from lips of those who have none at all? Then how does God answer these petitions of the poor?

He says “yes” through people. And not just those with means, for like the widow who put into the temple treasury all she had, two copper coins,3 those who have the least are often the most generous with what they have. God will indeed “deliver the needy who cry out,”4 and when we so pour ourselves into others, we do so not only to them, but to Christ himself. For He will one day say to some, “I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink . . . Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”5 This is a promise; it will happen. So, whether you give to the poor directly or through a ministry you know to be responsible and effective in helping them emerge from poverty’s grasp, do so eagerly, joyfully and expectantly, for the day comes when we will stand as one before Him who unites us in Himself—Christ Jesus, our Lord.

Father, give me an undivided heart, that my love for You would blossom in generosity toward others. Lead me in Your ways in heart and in action. In Christ I pray. Amen.

1 James 2:5 ESV
2 Matthew 6:11 ESV
3 Luke 21:1-4
4 Psalm 72:12
5 Matthew 26:35, 40

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What a Legacy

Monday marked 57 years since my father died of a heart attack. He was 46; I was seven. I carry some mental snapshots of him, a collection of recollections that I peruse from time to time in the album of my mind. Yet one of Dad’s greatest influences on me throughout the years comes through a certain montage of memories that blend into this abiding impression of the man: Dad valued people and treated them with equal dignity and respect. How could a boy of my tender age possibly understand this? Whether people were paupers or professionals, Dad greeted and engaged them with the same interest and esteem. It showed through the giving of his time, the acceptance in his smile, the warmth of his humor, the lending of an ear, and the approval in his eyes, those blue-tinted windows of his soul. They were the same for all. And children see these things.

Among Solomon’s vast collection of proverbs resides this gem: “Rich and poor have this in common: The Lord is the Maker of them all.”1 God does not base our eternal worth on our temporary wealth, be it great or small, but in that He has made us in His image. The Word is replete with admonitions not to favor the rich over the poor, for “whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.”2 Yet God also commands us against bias in either extreme: “You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly.”3 For His ways of good and right are the same for all, and we all are accountable to Him.

God is our maker; we matter to Him. Then because we matter to Him, we honor each other in thought, word and deed. This is what I saw in my father’s regard for people. What a legacy.

Father, You love others as You love me. Grace me to regard people not according to the ways of this world, but to see them and to serve them as Your own. In Christ I pray. Amen.

1 Proverbs 22:2
2 Proverbs 14:31
3 Leviticus 19:15