Are you a good person?

People are generally modest. You can’t ask them that question face to face without being rude. But, if you conducted an anonymous poll, I suspect that the vast majority……..almost all…….would say “yes, I’m a good person. It is the rare human who goes through life dogged by the sure knowledge that they are a fundamentally bad person.

So, if you ask me that question……….I would answer, “Yes, I’m a good person”. You would too. So far so good.

The trouble is this:

Adolph Hitler would have given exactly the same answer.

And here is the scary part…….Hitler would not have been lying. I am sure that he sincerely believed that he was a good German serving his people. His belief in his goodness was just as sincere as mine…….and yours.

Hitler’s belief that he was a good person was just as valid as mine is………and just as valid as yours is.

This speaks to the power of the rationalizations and justifications that we use…..all day every day. We all do bad things……all day every day. How can we say that we are good? It’s simple…….we have a justification for the bad thing…….in fact, we have a separate justification for each and every bad thing that we do.

Not me…….you say.

Well, do you keep track of your internet purchases, report them to your state revenue department, then calculate and pay the use tax on each of them?…..not likely. Do you donate to the charities fighting starvation in Africa……all of them. Do you give to the guy with the sign on the exit ramp?

That we fail to do good every day is a fact. That we fail to show love to our fellow man every day is a fact. But, that is not the point of this post. The point of this post centers around the absolutely reasonable justifications that we use hundreds of times each day…….. every time we fail to do good.

The point is that I cannot trust my opinion of how good of a person I am……….and neither can you. We are both far too skilled at justifying our failures to be able to honestly assess our goodness.

Every few days I hear something like this…..”I’m not religious, I don’t go to church, though I do believe in heaven. I’m going there……..because I’m a good person.”

Herr Hitler could easily have believed the same thing.

What to do?

Since we cannot rely on self assessment, it is clear that we need a stable, objective, universal, tool to measure our goodness against.

The Bible is such a tool. But there is bad news and good news. The bad news is that we don’t measure up. We continually fall short of God’s expectations. The good news is that there is a workaround……..Jesus. Accept him and the fact that you aren’t good enough…….that you never have been good enough…….becomes irrelevant.

With Jesus………the fact that you are not a good enough person no longer matters.

So……..you have two options:

Ignore God and trust in your own goodness……….trust in the quality and the validity of your justifications.

Or

Recognize your failures and accept Jesus’s “get out of hell free card”.

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Jesus, ESV

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.

Paul, ESV

I am truly blessed. I live on a wooded lot out in the country. There are all kinds of trees in my woods……oak, hickory, sassafras, walnut and many more. Some are spectacular. Some are just plain Jane. The plainest of the lot…….is the maple tree. It just sits there filling up space……..for 51 weeks a year. But, for one week a year, every fall, it turns a brilliant red , yellow, or orange. For that one week a year……..the maple is the king of the woods. That one week is God’s gift to the maple tree…….and the maple tree’s gift to me.

So what does this have to do with spiritual gifts?

You may see yourself as an ordinary Christian……nothing special……..just another maple tree. But, the Bible is very clear, you too have a spiritual gift. You may not have identified it. It may not have manifested itself yet. But, make no mistake, it is there. Some gifts are obvious and those who have them are widely celebrated. Think of Billy Graham and his gift for evangelism. Other gifts are much less obvious: wisdom, encouragement, support for others, the ability to tithe…. and the greatest gift of all……..love. Some gifts are active…….some are latent. Your gift could be pre-directed at one specific person…….perhaps someone you have not yet met……or may never meet. Some day you may interact with that someone and change their life….. for the better. You may never even know you did it. My wife Cindy has an amazing gift……..she cares…….deeply……..about just about everybody.

So, you have been given a gift……. by God no less. I have to believe that he took that gift seriously. So you too should take it seriously. God is not wasteful. I have to believe that he intends for you to use his gift…….your gift. If you can identify your gift and cultivate it…….like Billy Graham…..fabulous. If your gift is latent or directed at someone specific, it will be harder. Know this…..when it is time to use your gift……it will be comfortable, it will be natural, it will feel good, and you will be good at it. It will jive with rules one and two……love God….love man. And finally, when you walk away from the encounter……..you will glow………because you will have done exactly what you were created to do.

The best example of exercising a latent spiritual gift that I know occurred in a prison. A prisoner shared Jesus with another prisoner. The first prisoner was beaten to death a few hours later. His words stuck and the second prisoner became a Christian. He wrote several books, one of which helped to destroy the Soviet Union. His name……Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.

So, whether your gift is obvious or latent, know that it is there. Be ready to use it. And the best way to be ready is to study the Bible and pray.

I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams,
and your young men shall see visions.

Jesus, ESV

Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

Paul, ESV

My Bible reading today is Jeremiah. It is basically a list of Israel and Judea’s failures followed by a warning of upcoming disaster. The impending disaster is caused by the failure of the Jewish people to manage their country.

Sounds familiar.

The highest heavens belong to the Lord,
   but the earth he has given to the human. race.

Psalm 115, ESV

Heaven and earth are different……..seems pretty obvious. The Bible spends a lot of ink describing heaven. No doubt, much of this description in symbolic. But, the thrust of it is that heaven will be a place where the things that are wrong here on earth will be made right. Not only the things external to me…….but also the things internal to me………all of them will be made right. Sounds great.

But, why do I have to wait? If God is as strong as all of that, why doesn’t he clear up the mess here on earth…….right now. It is clearly within his power. And yet, he seems to just sit there and watch the mess unfold. I often hear people say words to the effect, “I don’t understand why God allows………(fill in the blank).”

In the movie “Forrest Gump”, lieutenant Dan is angry at God. He makes a list of complaints and says ,”God is listening????” Lieutenant Dan is asking “why doesn’t God straighten out this mess?”

Decades ago I read a short story by Isaac Bashevis Singer……”Gimple, the Fool”. It is the story of a simple man, not unlike Forrest Gump. He runs his life by a simple code of honor and collides every day with a thoroughly broken world. I strongly recommend it. This story changed my life.

The conflict between a perfect paradise and this imperfect world has always been difficult to understand.

Why is there such a chasm between this world and the next?

It comes down to ownership.

God created, owns, and actively manages paradise.

God created earth and everything on it. But the similarity ends there. God gave earth to man. He signed over the deed. God doesn’t actively manage earth. We own it and managing it is our job. In many ways, on our earth, God acts like a guest. We invite him over for dinner. We ask him to drop in from time to time to help us with a problem. Then we say goodbye and send him back to his home. We control how much we allow God, our guest, to participate in our world. And the footprint in our world that we allow to God is clearly shrinking. God will drop in……..if we invite him over. He will help us with a problem…….if we only ask. God loves us………but like a good guest, he will not force himself on us. If we do a bad job of managing this world……our world……..and tell God to mind his own business……….tell him that we have things under control………that his input is neither wanted nor needed……..he will honor that request.

We poison our world with carbon dioxide, plastics, and every imaginable toxin. We kill 3000 of our children every day. We tell God that he is not welcome in our schools and most other public venues. We teach our children that their physical and emotional sex……is whatever they want it to be. Then we stand there and watch the wheels fall off. And we tell ourselves that if God was real……he would fix things.

Here is the simple truth.

If we leave a pile of dirty dishes in the sink and go to bed………God doesn’t let himself in uninvited at 3am, wash the dishes, and leave.

After all, we own the world……..we created the problem.

We own the problem.

Open mindedness

This is a good thing…….isn’t it?

The current term for open mindedness……..is tolerance. Tolerance is putting open mindedness into practice. And it turns out, that in practice, open mindedness and tolerance are almost synonymous.

We want to be open minded…….people tell us that we need to be open minded…….but why?

So…..today’s question……is open mindedness good or bad?

I propose that open mindedness/tolerance is nether good nor bad. As with many other things…….it depends.

It depends on whether the idea that you are considering……is true or not.

It depends on whether the act that you are tolerating is good or evil.

And that is where we get into trouble.

Our current society does not seems to value truth very much. And that becomes a problem for open mindedness. Without truth, open mindedness and its cousin, tolerance, become logically untethered.

Mitigating climate change is an idea that may save the planet. It can also be a fools errand. It all depends on whether the greenhouse gas theory is true.

Abortion is either a tool for self determination among women……or murder. It all depends on whether the humanity…….the soul……..of the child is true.

God…..the trinity…….is either the creator and head of the universe…..or a giant hoax. It all depends on whether the Bible is true.

And this is where our culture gets into trouble.

The trouble is that our modern culture has largely replaced the truth…….with our appetites. We tend to believe things that allow us to pursue our appetites……our desires. Whether they are true or not is secondary…….if we ever consider the truth at all.

So…..in the absence of truth………how do we sort these things out?

We support/opppse abortion because we want sexual freedom/want to save children.

We support/oppose the green new deal because it will save the planet/wreck our economy.

We accept/reject God because we want paradise/we want to be in charge.

The simple answer is that…..without truth…..we cannot navigate this morass.

The only way out of this logical thicket is the truth.

The answer is to stop pursuing our appetites and to search out the truth. The answer is to subordinate our appetites to the truth.

Here are some guidelines.

If your plan for living consistently steers you toward satisfying your appetites……..you are probably kidding yourself.

Listen to your heart………you may have beaten it down over the years…….but the truth is still in there.

Be skeptical when you pursue something because you really want it. The truth is often that tiny voice that says “don’t”.

Love and relationship are true. If your appetites damage love or a relationship……stop.

Finally, ask your heart………is 70 years of life…..preceeded and followed by a black void…..all that there is…….or is there something more…….is there a part of you that lives on after your death.

The solution to the open mindedness/tolerance conundrum is this:

Ignore your appetites and search dispassionately for truth. Be prepared to listen to the little voice that says “no”.

The Bible is the most widely accepted moral code on the planet………it is a good place to start………far better than your appetites. And God will toss paradise in……..as a bonus.

I am the Lord your God,
who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.
“But my people did not listen to my voice;
Israel would not submit to me.
So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts,
to follow their own counsels.

God, ESV

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.

Paul, ESV

Great ideas……great goals.

But, the simple truth is this:

Justice and mercy are often in conflict. Often……if not usually……..justice and mercy are polar opposites.

And yet…….both justice and mercy are clearly important in the Bible……..both must be important……to God.

Justice: the guy who hurt me……or my family……or my friend……..gets the punishment that he deserves.

Mercy: when I mess up…….God forgives me.

Justice is driven by the unbiased application of the rules.

Mercy is driven by the undiluted application of love.

Justice is the central theme in the old testament.

Mercy is the central theme of the new testament.

Justice, in the old testament, is often achieved by the death of the wrongdoer.

Mercy, in the new testament, is achieved by the death…………..and resurrection………..of God himself.

From God’s perspective, old testament justice was pretty cheap. One lightning bolt…….a dash of fire and brimstone………..a quick stoning……and done. New Testament mercy, however, is an entirely different kettle of fish. The price of God’s mercy was…….is……..unimaginable. God watched his only son……..a son whom he loved……..die a death that redefines gruesome.

I have to believe……..based its cost to God…….that mercy is more important to God than justice. At least I hope so. Because……..I am in no position to face God’s justice………and neither are you.

When I think of mercy, I am usually focused on me and God’s love for me. When I think of justice, I am usually focused on the other guy………and the rules.

I don’t have a clue how God balances these two ideals in eternity……and, fortunately, that is not something that I have to sort out.

So…..instead…….my thought for today is:

“How do I……..how do we……balance justice and mercy…….in this broken world?”

Clearly, there are people in this world who are so evil that they must be kept in cages to protect the rest of us…….justice.

But, the vast majority of the time, I believe that mercy is a better problem solving tool.

I have decided to leave justice, in this world, to a deeply flawed criminal justice system as it struggles to sort and punish evil. In eternity, I will leave justice to God.

In a word……..justice is not my business……..justice is above my pay grade.

In my life……..I will focus on mercy. I will hope for and trust in God’s mercy in his dealings with me. And, I will apply mercy in my dealings with my neighbors……….as much as is possible.

I think that a good first step……..is to pray for the politicians whom I disagree with. Maybe after that I can find the strength…….and mercy……to pray for the truly evil people on this planet.

This will not be easy……….but I doubt that it was easy for God to watch Jesus on the cross…….the cross…….where justice and mercy meet.

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

Jesus, ESV

Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”

Paul, ESV

Mercy triumphs over judgment.

James, ESV

what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?

Micah, ESV

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.

Max Ehrmann, Desiderata

We live in a society that once was open……..even welcoming…….. to Christianity. Now, however, more and more, our society is hostile to Christianity. The number of places where our faith is simply not allowed grows every day. We have largely been run out of our schools and universities. Our government, at best, gives us a small corner and tolerates us…….as long as we stay in our corner. At worst, the laws of our nation are used to marginalize us. The media is becoming more and more hostile. I quit watching a popular crime drama years ago because Christians were consistently portrayed as angry judgemental hypocrits.

This animus toward Christians seems to center on a small core of people who are openly hostile to us. But our neighbors and our government seem to be OK with it. At the very least, they are silent.

The first irony is that our detractors are the same people who tell us we need to be more tolerant. They tell us that we must be more open to new ideas………as they silence us in the schools. Today, in our schools, it permissible, even encouraged, to teach young people that your sex is whatever you want it to be. Anything that you do in the sphere of sex is OK. But, if you try to teach the idea that you are valued and loved by God, your creator……..just as you are, our government will punish you……and the school that allowed you a platform.

But, as bad as this is………this is not the greatest irony.

For us, as Christians, our future, our eternal destiny, is absolutely secure. We will spend our eternity with our creator…….our father……Abba. Our most vocal detractors……..the people who would silence us in the public conversation……..do not have that assurance. At best, they try to silence us because we annoy them. At worst, they are troubled by the possibility……..that we might be right. In between are the rest of our neighbors who sit by in silence………who are tacitly OK with selling the transgender agenda in our schools but are comfortable with excluding salvation by faith.

So…….the truly great irony is this:

We have nothing to gain or lose by promoting our faith in the public square. We win…..one way or the other. The only possible winners from our attempts to “sell” our faith…….to evangelize…….are the very friends and neighbors who actively……..or more often passively try to silence us. The truly great irony?…….Our most aggressive detractors are those who have the most to gain from our efforts.

Our most aggressive detractors……..our most angry and vocal critics…….are those who have the most to gain from our efforts to sell Christianity in the public arena.

So…….what to do?

When I face a dilemma, I usually go back to the basics.

Love God……love your neighbor

Love God…….tells me to keep selling him to those around me. After loving God and loving my neighbor, this is my next most important job.

Love my neighbor……..tells me to do it with care and kindness. Do it in a way that they will clearly understand……that it is a gift…..to and exclusively for…….them……that it profits me not one bit. Love tells me to sell salvation by faith…..even if it costs me.

That is, after all, the lesson of the cross.

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Jesus, ESV

“everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?”

Paul, ESV

But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,

Peter, ESV

And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”

Isaiah, ESV

We deal with fear every day. Usually, it is small things; but, often it is the fear of a major disaster. Fear is our natural response to risk. And risk is the possibility of an impending problem……..possibly a disaster.

Human nature is complex. There are many things that we do very well. Assesing risk, however, is not one of them. We tend to give more weight to risks that are near……and less weight to risks that are more remote. We do this even when the remote risk is the more dire. We are more worried about being late for work than we are worried about our employer closing down.

We also have a penchant for simply ignoring risks. There are many reasons: We just don’t want to do the work needed to avoid the risk. The risk runs contrary to our politics……..contrary to the people we have chosen as leaders. Perhaps dealing with the risk requires us to do something that we don’t want to do…….or stop doing something that we want to do.

Because we do not prioritize…….we do not stratify……risk well, we fear inaccurately.

I have often said, “If you are going to worry…….at least worry accurately “.

So……here is an exercise in worrying accurately. Make a list of the things that you fear today…….the risks that you face…….the things that you are worried about…..today.

Bills
Your children
Covid-19
The mid term election
Car troubles
Black mold in your basement

These risks share a common feature……..they are temporal. They are limited to our physical world. They are limited to our lifetimes. Every one of them will be gone…..resolved, in a few years……when we die. For me, these risks will simply expire…….in about 20 years. It may be longer for you. It may be shorter for me. But, these risks will all go away…..soon.

Because these risks are self limited, our fears about these risks should also be limited……..by time if nothing else. These risks…..and our fears are entirely temporal.

Now consider one more risk. This one is more remote. And this one, unfortunately, is not limited……by time……or by anything else.

Hell

The fact that hell is eternal means that this risk is infinite. The fact that hell is irrevocable means that it cannot be fixed.

I propose that an irrevocable, eternal, infinite risk belongs at the top of your list of risks……..way ahead of any temporal risk.

I propose that hell belongs at the top of the list of things that you fear.

In fact, the gap between hell and the number 2 risk on your list is so great that compared to it, all of your other worries……all of your other fears……are inconsequential.

The Bible gives us cyrstal clear guidance on the topic of fear. Over and over it tells us not to worry…..not to fear temporal risks.

Then…….over and over………the Bible tells us to fear God. And we really don’t like that. We want God to be a kind……gentle, soft focus kind of guy who bails us out of trouble…….and he is. God is the God of paradise. But……God is also the God of hell. The Bible repeatedly tells us to worry……..about eternal risks…….about hell.

God rules hell……..not Satan. Satan knows what is coming for him……and he is terrified……Satan has his risk stratification nailed down cold. He is worried about one thing……..hell.

So……ironically…….there is something that we can learn from Satan. Like Satan, we really only have one thing to fear………hell.

When the Bible repeatedly tells us to fear God, it is a reminder that we are barreling toward a fork in the road……..a fork that God, not Satan, is in control of. One day we will round a corner and there it will be. No time to brake. No chance to decide. The decision at that point is up to God. And God’s decision will hinge on a single decision that we have already made. Do we humble ourselves and accept God’s sovereignty……..or do we wear the crown ourselves.

So, if we get our risk stratification right, we take steps today to be sure that we are lined up for the safe side of the fork in the road……the fork that is our ultimate destiny…..our true destiny.

Or…….we could just ignore or deny the risk……and hope that we are right.

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell……..So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.

Jesus, ESV

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

David, ESV

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on.”

Matthew, ESV

I know a woman………she and her husband packed their family up and flew halfway around the world to spread the word of God in a country that is not nearly as comfortable as America. They run their lives on a plan. It is a surprisingly complicated plan. The hoops that they have had to jump through to get to……and to stay in their new home country are mind boggling. But, the plan is a good plan and the plan is working.

I’m a big fan of making a plan and following it through. I too made a plan and followed it through: college, med school, residency, then 35 years with one practice, and finally…….a comfortable retirement. In many ways she and I have followed the same strategy. But, there is a key difference.

She is following God’s plan……..and I am following mine.

Every step along the way, I have asked the question, “will this decision, this choice, promote my interests?” Every step along the way, she has asked, “will this decision, this choice, promote God’s interests?”

And I have come to understand that this dichotomy is a major threat to Christianity. It is a threat to the heart and the soul of the Christian. Christianity asks us to run our plan by God and to conform our plan to his plan. Human nature tells us that we can figure it out…….without God’s interference. Human nature tells us that our plan is better than God’s plan. It is no accident that our plan happens to lead us to a pleasant, comfortable place. Sometimes God’s plan does not…….at least not right away.

And so…….we put ourselves in charge. We execute our plan. And when our plan conflicts with God’s plan……we push God off into the corner. The danger here, is that after pushing God off onto the corner for long enough, we stop thinking about him…….we stop talking to him……we stop asking his advice. We stop allowing him to interfere with our plan. Oh, we let him out of his corner for an hour on Sunday……if that…….and then tell ourselves that we are “a good person”.

I’m not saying that you have to pack up your stuff and head to Africa. But, I think that we could all profit, if we would spend more time talking to God……listening to God……..and asking his advice. I think that we could all profit, if we worked harder to conform our plan…….to God’s plan.

The culture will say that I am sucessful…….and that she is not. The culture rewards me with a position of status….and her……not so much. But I can’t help but wonder if that calculus will hold up…….after we cross over to eternity. I have a sneaking suspicion that……in eternity…….in paradise…….our positions will be reversed.

So, perhaps a little late in the game, I am bending my plan…….just a little……..to bring it a bit closer……..to God’s plan.

“So……the last will be first and the first last.”

Jesus, ESV

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Jesus, ESV

So……..I woke up early this morning……4:30am?!?…….no point in trying to get back to sleep. I figured that I’d go out on the patio to watch the sunrise and do my Bible reading for the day. As it turns out, this is a fairly lengthy process: build a fire in the fire pit………pull a shot of espresso…….froth some milk for the crema……..wipe off the dew. While I was at it, I fired up the robot vacuum to clean up the mess from last night’s dinner party.

So I’m standing at the espresso machine working on my latte………and all that the robot wants to do is vacuum the square yard of floor that I’m standing on…….over and over and over.

I had some unkind words……..for the robot……..as I prepared for my morning devotional……..my morning conversation with God. I verbally savaged a machine in preparation for a conversation with my creator………the guy who has blessed me with a lifestyle that very few people in our current world enjoy………a lifestyle that Jesus didn’t enjoy.

And then it hit me.

I am an ungrateful snot.

You may or may not have an espresso machine, or a robot vacuum, or a patio. But, compared to the 8 billion people on this planet…….as an American……..you are blessed. Your lifestyle, just like mine……is in the top 1 or 2 percent.

We have, you and I, been blessed…….individually……..and as a nation. And we need to start acting like it……..individually………and as a nation.

So my question is this:

When was the last time that you felt sorry for yourself? When was the last time that you complained about your life?

For me………it’s been at least 15 minutes.

When was the last time that you shared your individual blessings with someone who was struggling? When was the last time you asked your congressman to send more aid to Africa……or Bangladesh?

For me……..it’s been a while.

I worry that I……..and my nation……..have become ungrateful…….and self absorbed. We once sought God……as a nation………and I worry that we have lost that. As a nation we need to invite God back into our public life.

As an individual……………I need to spend more energy saying “thank you lord”…….and less energy saying “why me?”

One of God’s many promises is that if we seek him……he will bless us.

Another of God’s promises is that if we bless others, he will bless us.

“If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land .

God, ESV

Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered.

Solomon, ESV

Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

Jesus, ESV