By the time we reach the middle of the gospel of Matthew, the confrontation between the Pharisees and Jesus is in full swing. Time after time throughout the gospels, religious leaders oppose Jesus. They ask him questions in order to try and trap him in his words. On at least one occasion, in fact, we…

Have you ever had to pay the price for something that you did not do? Maybe as a child, one of your siblings committed an offense and got away with it. Somewhere down the line, however, it was discovered. Somebody got busted. But, instead of Dad and Mom punishing the actual perpetrator, they were convinced…

Paul wrote in Phil. 2:3-4, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” But that is the rub, I think. It is an inherent human quality—it is part of…