“Hundreds of years before Jesus, Confucius supposedly said, ‘Do not do to others what you would not wish done to yourself.’” Throughout history, others have given similar “silver rules.” The difference between these ‘silver rules’ and the Golden Rule Jesus gave his followers is two-fold: focus and motivation. The Golden Rule is a positive declaration that is motivated by service to others. – Mark Moore

Jesus never told his followers not to judge others, but he made it clear: the way you judge others is how you will be judged. If you spend your life as a professional fault-finder, a relentless critic, you can expect criticism in return. Criticism without self-awareness betrays a lack of humility. And in that environment hypocrisy can grow unchecked.

“Do not be anxious about anything” was the most highlighted Bible verse in YouVersion in 2019. We say we believe there is nothing too big or too small to talk about with God. If we don’t pray about the things that bother us, do we really? Praying about everything requires disciple. But it is a discipline that leads to life.

Europeans had an ingenious form of torture called “distraction” that they implemented in the Middle Ages. It was barbaric in that they would attach each of their victim’s limbs to four horses that would run in four different directions, pulling them apart. Satan keeps us moving in all different directions, too, and this is one way he uses to kill us and all that is good in us.

C. S. Lewis wrote, “Everyone says forgiveness is a lovely idea, until they have something to forgive.” I’m so glad our Heavenly Father isn’t that way. The Apostle Paul understood that. As a recipient of incredible mercy and grace, Paul wanted others to know that they, too, could find forgiveness.

Think you’re a miserable, low-down sinner? You’re not alone in that assessment. Even the Apostle Paul had a past. We all do. Having a past isn’t a problem; getting stuck in the past is. Thankfully, we are made right in God’s sight through the mercy of Christ.

Coach Richard Westerlund said, “Comparison is the thief of joy.” Comparison is also fuel for envy. The more we compare the less content we are. Left unchecked, comparison and envy lead to misery. The solution: life the life God intended you to live.

It’s the New Year and that means a time of reflection and looking forward. It’s also the start of a new decade and that means even more looking back. 2019 wrapped up a decade of highs and lows, and as we turn the page to a new year (and a new decade) God has great things in store for his church!

While great theology, it turns out Joy to the World isn’t just about Christmas; it’s about Christ’s second coming. Despised and rejected at his first entrance, Jesus was scorned by his people and executed at the hand of the Emperor’s henchmen. When he returns, however, “every knee will bow in heaven and on earth … and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord."

In Matthew we see a group of mystics who followed a star in search of a King. We sing “we three kings” but we don’t know the number and they probably weren’t kings. They believed stars heralded the birth of “human beings destined for greatness.” And, the historians Tacitus and Suetonius wrote that at the “turn of the era there was an expectation of a world-ruler.”