Author: Kevin Spear

I am a content creator and storyteller based in Florida, where I work for OneHope. I love digital and content marketing, writing, and the occasional doodle.

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Bible motivation Numbers

It’s Always Too Early to Quit

“It’s always too early to quit.” Norman Vincent Peale

This morning, I was reading in the Book of Numbers, Chapter 14. Twelve spies reported on the Promised Land. Ten of the two gave a discouraging report. The other two knew it’s always too early to quit.

Have you received some discouraging news? Are you having trouble seeing the opportunity in your challenges? Take heart and remember this quote from Norman Vicent Peale:

“It’s always too early to quit.”

Norman Vincent Peale

You may say, “But you don’t understand what is going on in my life!” And you may be right. I have had some mishaps and disappointments in my life. And I certainly haven’t experienced everything you have.

But of course, you don’t know everything about my life either. However, we can agree that life can be as messy as a stinky diaper. There are some things that we can control, and other situations we just have to ride out.

high tech diaper pail
Life can be as messy as a stinky diaper

There have been times I have had to sigh and remind myself that God is in control, and I am not. But that doesn’t give me a reason to just give up. I remind myself it is best if I give to God what I can’t control while taking care of what I can.

I’ll admit it is a very delicate dance. If we are controlling others, that doesn’t help. But if we take care of matters we can control and have peace about the people and situations we can’t, we will eventually see a much better outcome.

Therefore, it is always too early for me to quit. And it is for you as well. Just because babies keep producing messy diapers, doesn’t mean we should just give up changing them. Young parents can take solace that one day, junior will be potty-trained and the mess will be a memory.

In the same way, just because we are facing messy situations today, doesn’t mean we should just give up. Change what we can, have peace about what we can’t, and pray for the wisdom to know the difference.

Categories
motivation

Apologies Accepted

black toy car on world map paper
Photo by Mihis Alex on Pexels.com

Forbes has an article entitled What John Wayne Got Wrong About Apologizing. In it, John Baldoni uses a John Wayne quote to illustrate why it is okay to say, “Apologies accepted.”

“Never apologize, mister, it’s a sign of weakness.” 

John Wayne as Captain Nathan Brittles in, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon

Never apologize… Really? Baldoni goes on to show why that philosophy is actually a bad idea. Refusing to apologize doesn’t make someone strong. In fact, it erodes trust, eliminates accountability, and corrodes culture. In other words, apologies aren’t a sign of weakness. They are a sign of someone with a healthy ego.

If we pretend we are never wrong, how can we make progress towards a goal? It is a recipe for disaster. Therefore, we must have the courage to admit when we are going in the wrong direction.

black toy car on world map paper
Photo by Mihis Alex on Pexels.com

A long time ago, when paper maps were still the way to get around, I was lost in the middle of southern Indiana. Wherever we were didn’t appear to be where we wanted to go.

I acted like the stereotypical male and refused to admit I had no clue where we are. The more we drove, the more obvious we were wrong. I knew better. This kind of predicament that cartoons are made of. I was making myself the butt of a joke.

I could fool my kids. But I couldn’t fool my wife. At first, she patiently asked me to get directions. After about a half-hour of this, she had enough. It probably didn’t help that we drove by the same convenience store again. She strongly encouraged me to stop and ask how to get to our destination. After a two-minute conversation, we were off and going where we wanted.

Consequently, we would like to believe no one notices when we are going in the wrong direction. But we aren’t fooling anyone. So when we mess up (and we will), let’s have the courage to utter an apology. Then we may be surprised to hear the reply, “Apologies accepted!”

Categories
Christianity love

Real Love Never Fails

Real Love Never Fails

Today is Valentine’s Day. It is a time when we celebrate love. Most likely, we think of romantic love. And I certainly am a fan of romance. However, romance can be fickle and temporary. Real love that never fails. What kind of love is that?

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.”

1 Corinthians 13:4-5

A few years back, I wrote a post on five reasons kids need Valentine’s Day. In it, I wrote that kids need to see love in action. That is even more true in the last couple of years. Love had been hard to find in a pandemic. The kind of love the Apostle Paul writes about in 1 Corinthians 13 is hard to come by, but so desperately desired in this modern world.

Cartoon of a boy holding a valentine and a jaded girl

A World of Love

Just think what kind of world it would be if we rediscovered unconditional love. We would turn away from the selfishness that is killing us inside and begin to look at others as friends instead of enemies.

It would begin to melt fear because perfect love casts it out. I like one version of 1 John 4:18. “It says fear has torment.” How many of us are tormented in today’s world by fear? Could it be that the answer is to be made perfect in love?

The Courage of Love

It is a far cry from what the world prescribes for fear. Most advice we hear is to act angry and to be courageous. However, it is just as possible for love to bring courage instead of anger. We don’t have to act like jerks to eliminate fear. Courage brought on by love brings far less collateral damage than anger and aggression.

This day is named after a man who showed love to others even unto martyrdom. At the time of his death, most would have thought his sacrifice was meaningless. After all, just another Christian was executed. Yet, his courage that was brought on by love is a message for us today.

There is power in it because real love never fails.

Categories
Christianity

Stand or Fall

There was a time when I would read the Old Testament and would smirk at how the Israelites would stumble and fall. Today, I realize no matter who we are, we all must take care to see whether we stand or fall. The Apostle Paul talks about this in 1 Corinthians 10.

“Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.”

1 Corinthians 10:12 (KJV)

Paul warned us that we are no better than anyone else. If God was with the Israelites in the wilderness, if He gave them everything they needed to survive, and yet they still made mistakes of unfaithfulness and sin, what makes us think they would be any different.

Pride blinds us from seeing potential trouble. It makes us believe we can do no wrong. Then when our sins are exposed, it keeps us from admitting we messed up. It happened to King David, and the scriptures say he was a man after God’s own heart. What makes us think it couldn’t happen to us?

When I am at a factory, there are signs everywhere that remind me of hazards. There are potentials to slip, trip, and fall on every factory floor. The person who thinks it will never happen to them is the one most likely to end up in the emergency room.

We don’t avoid slipping hazards by thinking it will never happen to us. Every factory employee knows slips, trips, and falls can happen anywhere if they aren’t paying attention. Pride comes before a fall.

Cartoon of a boy who is about to fall into a manhole. Another boy says, "I'm sorry you were proud. Just stop!"
Yes, pride comes before a fall!

On this Sunday morning, I plan to take a time of self-examination. What am I not seeing that could be potential trouble? Am I looking down on someone that is no worse than me? Could it be that their fall is a warning to me?

We may think we are standing when in reality, we may be on the ground in the muck of the gutter. It’s very sobering to remind myself that there are slip and trip hazards all around us.

Categories
books

The Power of Books

“Books serve to show a man that those original thoughts of his aren’t very new at all.” Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was born 213 years ago today. He was a man that knew the power of books. I like this quote from him.

“Books serve to show a man that those original thoughts of his aren’t very new at all.”
Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln Quotes. BrainyQuote.com, BrainyMedia Inc, 2022. https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/abraham_lincoln_100002, accessed February 12, 2022.

Lincoln was a man that valued books so much, he would walk for miles across the Indiana countryside to borrow and return them. Though his formal education was spotty, his love for reading gave him an education far beyond his backwoods upbringing.

light inside library
Photo by Janko Ferlic on Pexels.com

Information in the Echo Chamber

In today’s connected world, we have no problem finding information. Rather, our challenge is sifting the wheat from the chaff. Our temptation is to only find the information we agree with, instead of a bit of knowledge that challenges us.

In Lincoln’s time, books showed that original ideas weren’t all that original. In today’s world, we can find any information to justify our thoughts. It doesn’t have to be edited or traditionally published to go out to millions. Do we forget what incredible power exists on our phones and desktops?

We like the comfort of the echo chamber. Most of us cringe when we find information that doesn’t agree with our worldview. However, do we grow if we only read, hear or view what we agree with? Are we doing ourselves a disservice when we don’t challenge our thoughts?

The Value of Printed Books

Today, printed books are still important partly because it still takes effort to publish something on paper. It gives it a physical presence that electronic media doesn’t have. Sure, we can print a blog or social media post. But how many of us actually do that? (If you dare to challenge me and print out this blog post, I’m fine with that!)

There may be a day I take my blog posts and organize them into a book. When that happens, there will be a better chance a future generation will read what I wrote. But if it stays only on the Internet, would it still live on? If I pass on tomorrow and no one chooses to pay for this site, it could disappear like a vapor.

Books and Thoughts

Books are still valuable to educate, instruct and challenge us. Let’s get out of our echo chamber, crack open a good tome, and get acquainted again with the power of books.