“I’ve asked you three times now to be quiet. If you continue to talk, I will write a referral to the office,” I said to a student today. “But I was just trying to ask him a question,” the student responded. “It doesn’t matter. I asked you to be quiet, and I told you the consequence if you talk again,” I said. “But I’m…” she trailed off muttering something under her breath. I’ve had conversations similar to this with more students than I could count—even with my own children. The need to get the last word in is overwhelming for some of these students. The longer I’ve been in education, the more of an issue it has become. These are what I call “Yes, ma’am moments.” They are times when I give a correction, and all I need is a “Yes, ma’am.” I do not need an explanation; I do not need you to plead your case. I do not need you to talk back. I simply need you to recognize that a correction needs to be made and then correct the behavior. That’s it. The more I watch my students...

It’s a simple question, but the answer is surprisingly...we don't know. Obadiah was a minor prophet in the Old Testament, and he wrote a book that is only one chapter with 21 verses. We don’t know his background; we don’t know where he came from. We don’t know his family, his occupation, or even exactly when he lived. His name means “servant of the Lord,” and beyond that, Scripture gives us very little. And yet, his message is anything but small, which is ironic. A man we know virtually nothing about was chosen to deliver a message about pride. A man whose identity fades into the background is the one God uses to confront a nation that had made everything about themselves. Edom was a nation defined by pride. They believed they were secure, untouchable, elevated above everyone else. When Israel was attacked and in distress, Edom didn’t step in to help. They stood back and watched. They even joined in the attack by looting the Israelites and blocking their escape routes (1...

My favorite short story is The Scarlet Ibis. It's a story about Doodle, a little boy who was born with severe disabilities, and he defies the odds to learn to walk, talk, run and almost become a normal boy, just like his brother always wished he would be. The story is told from the brother's point of view, and as he thinks back about Doodle, he says, "I did not know then that pride is a wonderful, terrible thing, a seed that grows two vines, life and death."  When I teach this short story in my English class, we talk about how pride can be a great thing when you have accomplished something you've worked hard at. When pride gives you motivation to become a better version of yourself, it gives you life. However, pride can be destructive when it breeds arrogance and selfishness. When pride causes you to damage those whom you love, it brings you death. What stands out to me more and more each time I teach this story is not just that pride can destroy, bu...

The question of whether divorce a sin or not is asked often in Christian circles. Most of the time, people are looking for a simple yes or no answer. We want categories. We want labels. We want a clear line between what is righteous and what is sinful. But many times, we focus so much on labeling actions that we completely ignore the condition of the heart behind them. Let’s just make one thing clear: actions aren’t the sin. It’s the condition of the heart that is the sin. Sometimes we get so caught up in trying to label things as a sin, that is the sin. We become so focused on appearing righteous, condemning others, and sorting people into categories that we forget the deeper issues Scripture continually points to—pride, hardness of heart, selfishness, cruelty, bitterness, abuse, betrayal, unforgiveness, lack of mercy, and lack of love. We have to ask ourselves: Does it edify and lift up the person? Does it edify and lift up the Lord? When the Pharisees asked Jesus about ...