READ: PHILIPPIANS 2:12
My best feel good moments as a parent came not when my children brought home a good report card or made the cheerleading squad or won an award of some kind. Those things were good but they were not the best things. The best feeling came when another parent, a teacher, or a coach would say of one of my children, “She is so polite, so respectful, so well-behaved, so helpful.” I always thought the real test of character and obedience of my children was not how they behaved when I was around, but how they acted when I was not around.
Maybe that was what Paul was getting at in the first part of Philippians 2:12. Bill Hybels wrote a book titled Who Are You When You Think No One Is Looking? Who we are when we think no one is looking is who we really are. Do you work just as hard when the boss is away as when he is present? Do you treat your spouse the same in public as you do in private? The greatest peace I know is the peace that comes when you live your life in such a way that you never have anything to hide. Or as Will Rogers said, “Live in such a way that you would not be ashamed to sell your parrot to the town gossip.”
My best feel good moments as a parent came not when my children brought home a good report card or made the cheerleading squad or won an award of some kind. Those things were good but they were not the best things. The best feeling came when another parent, a teacher, or a coach would say of one of my children, “She is so polite, so respectful, so well-behaved, so helpful.” I always thought the real test of character and obedience of my children was not how they behaved when I was around, but how they acted when I was not around.
Maybe that was what Paul was getting at in the first part of Philippians 2:12. Bill Hybels wrote a book titled Who Are You When You Think No One Is Looking? Who we are when we think no one is looking is who we really are. Do you work just as hard when the boss is away as when he is present? Do you treat your spouse the same in public as you do in private? The greatest peace I know is the peace that comes when you live your life in such a way that you never have anything to hide. Or as Will Rogers said, “Live in such a way that you would not be ashamed to sell your parrot to the town gossip.”
– Dr. Tim Thompson