Reflections

He who knows how to flatter also knows how to slander.
~ Napoleon Bonaparte

Slander is worse than cannibalism.
~ John Chrysostom

Judging others makes us blind, whereas love is illuminating. By judging others we blind ourselves to our own evil and to the grace which others are just as entitled to as we are.
~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 1906-1945, pastor and Nazi dissident

James 4:11-12, 5:12

The current popular notion that judging others is in itself a sin leads to such inappropriate maxims as ‘I’m okay and you’re okay.’ It encourages a conspiracy of moral indifference which says, “If you never tell me that anything I’m doing is wrong, I’ll never tell you that anything you’re doing is wrong.”
~ Elisabeth Elliot, missionary and speaker, Leadership, Vol. 3, no. 1

If you haven’t got anything nice to say about anybody come sit next to me.
~ Alice Roosevelt Longworth, 1884-1980, writer & socialite

It would be a good contest amongst Christians, one to labor to give no offence and the other to labour to take none.
~ Richard Sibbes, 1577-1635, Church of England pastor and theologian

We reveal most about ourselves when we speak about others.
~ Kamand Kojouri, contemporary author & poet

…the only way there could ever be reconciliation is going to be a personal revival. A personal revival, where God cleanses the heart and the attitudes and the soul of a person, and in many ways that’s why I could learn to forgive.
~ Robert Soto, 1952- , pastor and Apache tribal leader

The ultimate test of our spirituality is the measure of our amazement at the grace of God. ~ D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, 1899-1981, Welsh-born doctor and preacher

Those who suppose that the doctrine of God’s grace tends to encourage moral laxity are simply showing that, in the most literal sense, they do not know what they are talking about. For love awakens love in return; and love, once awakened, desires to give pleasure. ~ J.I. Packer, 1926-2020, British-born theologian and author

We don’t get to decide who God is. ~ Francis Chan, 1967- , Author & Preacher

Often we don’t see the majesty of God’s design because we’re caught up in the mediocrity of our own designs. ~ Craig D. Lounsbrough, 1959- , Licensed Counselor & Author

If you would attain to what you are not yet, you must always be displeased by what you are. For where you are pleased with yourself there you have remained. Keep adding, keep walking, keep advancing. ~ Augustine of Hippo, 354-430

It should be obvious that you are a follower of Christ, (if you are growing). If you are accused of being a Christian, then there should be enough evidence to convict you. You shouldn’t be found innocent of all charges, because there is fruit you can see. ~ Tony Evans, 1949- , Pastor & Author

A major problem with a preoccupation with my individual development is that it provides no intrinsic value ‘for you,’ except as an environment for my growth ~ William Dyrness, 1943- ,  Am. Theologian & Professor