Winston Churchill once said, “You have enemies? Good. That means that you’ve stood up for something sometime in your life.” There are times in our lives when we have to stand up for something. If you never stand for something you will fall for anything. We must submit our feelings and emotions to God’s authority. If we do not we will be moved by every philosophy that comes down the pike. As Christians, we have been bullied long enough by the social media. We have been bullied to be silent and to sit on the sidelines when it comes to important issues. If we dare to speak up the media will bad mouth us and paint us to look like fools. We have to be strong and stand up for God’s Word. We cannot be so concerned about what others think of us or whether or not they like us. We can no longer hide our faith. We are called to let our light shine so that the whole world can see it.

If we are to please God with our lives then let us be His friend. Being friends with the world is to be God’s enemy. Truth is good news every time. What is popular is not always right, and what is right is not always popular.

Just a Thought

PSS

Legacychurchnm.com

Not everything that we get used to in our lives is good for us, especially if it is a scotoma. A scotoma is a mental or physical blind spot. We have scotomas in our daily lives. Let us say you have a leaky faucet. If not repaired you will become immune to the sound of the water dripping and be blind to the reason as to why it should be fixed.

What have you become used to in your life that at one point you intended to fix or deal with? What is it that you no longer see that might be obvious to others? What have you been blinded to? This would be a good time to look back in your life to evaluate what you do and how you do it and gain a new perspective.

In your job, what things have you become used to that are broken and are in need of repairing? Your appearance? Your behavior? Is there something counter-productive you need to fix in your personal life? Perhaps it is the way you treat the people in your life. With time what was once an obvious problem has become, a scotoma. Let us make an effort to ask God to open our eyes to the obvious problems so we may correct them.

Just a Thought,

PSS

Legacychurchnm.com

If we are not careful, we will lose our right to free speech. Exercising our freedom of speech is a requisite of living a life where our voice matters. As I look at our society, I am amazed at how the process of silencing the voice of the people has gone unnoticed. We are told to conform, and if we do not, we are mocked, ridiculed and called names in order to keep us in line. If we do not speak out and stand up, then who will? If we lose our God-given, constitutional right to free speech, what comes next? If we lose the ability to disagree with those who are running our government, our cities, and states then the foundation of our country will be lost. We should not allow a select few self-appointed individuals dictate to us what is right, what is wrong, and what we should or should not say. We have a responsibility to speak up when things are wrong or if we disagree.

For example, lots of people today say using the term bossy to describe someone is extremely rude and offensive. We should be able to speak out and disagree without fear of being mocked or put down because our views are contrary to pop culture. Our silence is our surrender. If we are not careful, our desire to fit in will rob us of our right to free speech and our voices will never be heard.

Just a Thought,

PSS

Legacychurchnm.com

The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, truth is truth. People, news, media and the politically correct crowd talk a lot about integrity these days. The definition of integrity is: “The quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness”. Synonyms are honest, honor, good character, and truthfulness. Integrity allows you to do the right thing and tell the truth in any given situation. Many people today are honest until it becomes inconvenient. For example, some will be honest as long as it is to their advantage. As soon as it is not, they might lie, change their story or conceal portions of the truth. Unfortunately, most people find nothing wrong with this behavior. Our President and elected officials can lie and mislead us, and we accept it. None of us should make excuses for those leaders who act outside of integrity.

Most studies show that people want to follow a person with integrity, someone who adheres to a code of moral values and is incorruptible. They want to follow someone who treats others fairly and honestly and someone who is true to their word. All of us have to ask ourselves who we are and what kind of person we want to be. Do we fit the definition of integrity? How would others describe us? We need to be people of honesty and integrity regardless of the situation. Remember, those are attributes you can give away, but, no one can take from you.

Just a thought,

PSS

Legacychurchnm.com

Unfortunately, we live in a society that endorses the mentality that anything goes and everything has to be accepted or else you are a hater. Integrity is absent even in the most important places. Whether you examine a high political office, medical professional or religious leader, integrity will remain elusive. There is a lack of integrity no matter where you look because the current societal dogma assigns a higher level of importance to an individual’s feelings than an individual’s integrity. Long gone are the days in which people were known for keeping their word.

Integrity is defined as “the quality of being honest and having strong moral principle; moral uprightness, synonymous with honor, good character, ethical, sincere, truthfulness.” Here are a few quotes about integrity:

“Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody’s going to know whether you did it or not.” - Oprah Winfrey

"A single lie destroys a whole reputation of integrity." - Baltasar Gracian

“If you don’t have integrity, you have nothing. You can’t buy it. You can have all the money in the world, but if you are not a moral and ethical person, you really have nothing.” - Henry Kravis

Maintaining and boosting your integrity instead of degrading it is up to you. No one can change your level of integrity by giving it to you or by taking it away from you. You can willingly surrender it, but no one can forcefully take it. Let us strive to be honest and trustworthy men and women of our word. Only then will we have a greater peace of mind in knowing that treating people fairly will lead to a life with far fewer regrets.

Just a thought,

PSS