Joe Barnett

Come, my children, listen to me; I will teach you.             —Psalm 34:11 This week let’s think distilled wisdom—lessons we have learned, are learning, or need to learn. Part 1 … Defeat rarely comes because I try and fail, but because I fail to try. Success is often the fruit […]

Run in such a way as to get the prize.                  —1 Corinthians 9:24 Roger Bannister was expected to win the gold in the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki. He came in fourth. He went into strict training, obsessed with being the first person to run a sub-four-minute mile,

We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize.              —Hebrews 4:15 “He doesn’t understand; doesn’t know what I’m going through.” That may be true, even about someone close to you. But it isn’t true about Jesus. He did something he didn’t have to do—came to earth

In humility consider others better than yourselves.    —Philippians 2:3 You know someone who enters the room grandiosely: “Here I am!” (“Lucky you!”) And someone who enters the room graciously: “There you are!” (“Lucky me!”) Back-to-back Prime Ministers Benjamin Disraeli and William Gladstone took the same lady to dinner—Gladstone one evening; Disraeli the next. Asked

Do to others what you would have them do to you.         —Matthew 7:12 Confucius put the Golden Rule in negative form: “Do not to others what you would not wish done to yourself.” So did Rabbi Hillel. Asked by a prospective convert to state the whole law while he stood on

Let your light shine.    —Matthew 5:16 Every time you walk out the door you leave an impression behind. Is it a care-less impression that says, “I couldn’t care less about your day”? Or a care-more impression that says, “I care more for you than you’ll ever know”? The impression you leave on the other

You are the light of the world.              —Matthew 5:14 Every person you encounter today will be different as a result of hobnobbing with you. She will leave up in the clouds or down in the dumps; he will leave pumped-up or pushed-down; they will leave encouraged or discouraged, blessed

Guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.    —Proverbs 4:23 Today won’t leave you as it found you. It will leave you better or worse—more congenial or more cantankerous, more caring or more insensitive, more judgmental or more tolerant. It will leave you with faith, hope, and love enlarged or diminished. What

This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.             —Psalm 118:24 The first half of today’s text belongs to God. He did the heavy lifting; birthed this brand new day, gift-wrapped it, and delivered it to your door. The second half of

Set a guard over my mouth.                 —Psalm 141:3 Gossip insinuates that we are a cut above the person we’re trashing. It may make us feel superior, but it doesn’t make us superior. Jesus charged us to extract the two-by-four from our own eye before presumptuously reaching to