Skip to main content

Dishonest Scales


The Lord detests dishonest scales, but accurate weights find favor with him. (Proverbs 11:1)

                This morning, on a website that is not supposed to be political, someone shared a video in which a political candidate belittled a young woman who asked a question he didn’t want to answer. If you asked people why the posted or shared it, they’d tell you it was to “inform” people. The thing is, the Pharisees who posted the video clip didn’t simply share the video. They editorialized it by belittling the politician.
                I agree that the girl should not have been belittled, but I’m tired of hearing the new Eleventh Commandment, “Thou shalt not shame or belittle anyone or otherwise make them feel less than wonderful about themselves,” from people who then shame, belittle, and make others feel less than wonderful about themselves.  
                This may not be exactly the sort of scales that Solomon meant, but if the Lord detests dishonest scales, then He detests dishonest scales. Unfortunately, we all love dishonest scales. We’re “justified” in doing what others are not. We’re right, they’re wrong, so it’s fine to shame them. They deserve it.
                There’s a second odd dishonest scale that I find myself using. If you drop a glass of iced tea on the floor, as I did the other day, I think, “Oh, she dropped her ice tea.” If I spill a glass of iced tea, I’m a clumsy oaf. If you lose your temper about something, you lose your temper. If I lose my temper, I’m an ill-tempered lout, a horrible daughter, a monster…. Yeah, I hate one-way roads and dishonest scales, too.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Think About These Things

                 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8) This passage is a major challenge for me. Like everyone else, I struggle to keep my thoughts from wandering off into the weeds, then wondering what possible benefits those weeds might have… Sigh. But as a writer, I have to delve at least a little into the ignoble, wrong, impure, unlovely, and debased. After all, there’s no story if everything’s just as it should be and everyone’s happy. As Christians, there are times when we need to deal with all the negatives, but that makes it even more important that we practice turning our minds by force of attention to what is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. It’s just too easy to get stuck in a swamp. With my...
1 comment
Read more

Higher Thoughts

  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the  Lord . “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)           The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments,   for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord      so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (I Corinthians 2:15-16) If you read about the ancient gods of the various peoples, you’ll find that they think just like people. In fact, they think just like the sort of people we really wouldn’t want to be around. They think like the most corrupt Hollywood producer or, like hormone overloaded teens with no upbringing.   It’s embarrassing to read. I have a friend who argues that because God is not just like us, He is so vastly dif...
2 comments
Read more

Pure...

            The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. (I Timothy 1:5)   I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. (Revelation 3:15-16) I’m probably cheating - or mishandling the Bible, but earlier I was thinking about love being pure and purifying. And hatred being pure and purifying. And anger…joy…patience… fear… jealousy… courage…lust… and other strongly felt feelings, attitudes, and beliefs. Today’s verse brings purity and love together, so it’s the verse of the day, but it’s not really the focus. That means my motive for sharing it with you probably isn’t pure. As you read through my list, you   probably thought, “Yeah” about some, and “What’s she on?” about others. But consider how much hatred, a...
Post a Comment
Read more