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

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Virgin?

           Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)           This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 1:18)           But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”            “How will this be,” Mary asked the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more