by Zeke Flores<\/p>\n
Now, there’s a concept. The more we need it, the more out of reach it appears. For instance, our political views have become more extreme and polarized. People on one end of the spectrum scream and holler for their side, while those on the other end scream and holler for theirs. And while there’s room closer to the middle, neither side will budge. Even in business, there are different ways to view strengths and weaknesses. One camp advocates focusing on weaknesses to strengthen what is lacking, while the other camp says to focus on your strengths and not waste energy on weaknesses.<\/p>\n
The Pharisees in Jesus’ day could have used a little balance. They went to extreme lengths to appear righteous and holy, even tithing the smallest of their spices. “Good job,” Jesus observed, “but you forgot about things like justice and the love of God. It would be good to remember all of it.” Pardon my own paraphrase of Luke 11:42, but I hope it captures the idea.<\/p>\n
See, like the Pharisees — and people on the political extremes — we can look at one thing and measure our walk with the Lord by that description. “I attend all the services my church offers!” we might proudly proclaim. “I pray every day!” someone else might say. “I give a generous amount of money to the church’s work!” someone else might add. Wonderful. Great. Good for you. But what if we all did these things — and more — without letting anything fall through the cracks?<\/p>\n
God has gifted us all with different strengths and potentials, but don’t fall into the trap of just focusing on what you do best. That’s the easy route. Do more. Do better. Balance. That’s the ticket.<\/p>\n
“Woe to you Pharisees! For you pay tithe of mint and rue and every kind of garden herb, and yet disregard justice and the love of God; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others<\/em>” (Luke 11:42).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Zeke Flores Now, there’s a concept. The more we need it, the more out of reach it appears. For instance, our political views have become more extreme and polarized. People on one end of the spectrum scream and holler for their side, while those on the other end scream and holler for theirs. And…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[54],"class_list":["post-84033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-obedience"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":94672,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-you-the-wrong-person-for-the-job\/","url_meta":{"origin":84033,"position":0},"title":"Are You the Wrong Person for the Job?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 19, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Zeke Flores \"The Moses said to the Lord, 'Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither recently nor in time past, nor since You have spoken to Your serant; for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue'\" (Exodus 4:10). Moses basically tells God, \"You picked the wrong\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":92110,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-tragic-end-of-judas\/","url_meta":{"origin":84033,"position":1},"title":"The Tragic End of Judas","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 14, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Hugh DeLong In John 18:3, we read about Judas carrying out his betrayal of Jesus. The story of Judas includes other specific references in Scripture, including: \"For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":34398,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-you-keep-your-weaknesses-from-distracting-you\/","url_meta":{"origin":84033,"position":2},"title":"How do you keep your weaknesses from distracting you?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 13, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Maybe not as much now but I am sure when growing up as a Christian: How did you deal with your weaknesses distracting you? I have just really realized that my weaknesses have really been exploited to distract me from what I actually want to do and should do.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":88556,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/schisms\/","url_meta":{"origin":84033,"position":3},"title":"Schisms","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 10, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Zeke Flores No one likes torn or broken things. The word \"schism\" is a transliteration from the Greek \"schisma\", which describes a tear in a garment or a crack in a stone. A torn garment is useless; it fails to accomplish its purpose of covering the body. A cracked\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":34752,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-do-you-think-of-psalms-hymns-and-spiritual-songs-praise-for-the-lord-and-songs-for-worship-praise\/","url_meta":{"origin":84033,"position":4},"title":"What do you think of Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs, Praise for the Lord, and Songs for Worship & Praise?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 12, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I read your excellent review of the\u00a0Jeffcoat\u00a0Sacred Songs of the Church songbook. Our congregation is considering changing books and we are considering several of the more traditionally focused books. Have you had the opportunity to review and consider the\u00a0Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs\u00a0by Sumphonia? We are also considering the\u00a0Praise\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":93832,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/pretense\/","url_meta":{"origin":84033,"position":5},"title":"Pretense","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 10, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Zeke Flores In Genesis 27, Jacob approaches Isaac, pretending to be Esau, and Isaac says, \"The voice is Jacob's, but the hands are Esau's.\" It's such a striking line because it captures the tension of a divided identity: one thing on the outside, another on the inside. Jacob is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84033","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84033"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84033\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}