The measure

After I John 4:1-6

The measure of the spirt

is not the number of likes

or followers. It’s not the number

pf shares or retweets. It’s not

fame or celebrity or endorsements

or glowing news stories or

demand for speeches and articles

or how many people show up

at meetings or at church.

It’s not any of these.

It never is.

It never was.

It never will be.

Instead, the measure is

the spirit of the one

who is true.

Photograph by Jennifer Burk via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Yardstick

After I John 4:1-6

So many claims, so many

speakers, so many spirits

claiming inspiration and it’s

often difficult to discern,

difficult to know, really,

because they say the right things,

look the part, quote

the right sources, spout

off those verses like a master.

But we have a yardstick:

do these voices, these spirits,

acknowledge the one who came

in the flesh? Sometimes it’s

difficult to question the source

of the message, but question

we must, and question

we can.

Photograph by Junior Libby via Public Domain Pictures. Used with permission.