Pardon me if I point out the obvious, or annoy some with, simple truths, but once in a while we all need a little reminder…like now, maybe?
You can’t demand equality and expect special treatment.
You can’t be an extrovert and expect people not to notice.
You can’t call for a war against crime and expect immunity from prosecution.
You can’t demand rights and refuse responsibly.
You can’t celebrate lawlessness and expect to live in peace.
You can’t tolerate evil and expect righteousness.
You can’t demand freedom and oppress your neighbor.
You can’t uphold a democracy with a police state.
You can’t empty the prisons and not expect an increase in crime.
“How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”
-Luke 6:42
You can’t stomp through a mud puddle and not expect to get some on you.
You can’t normalize crime and expect law and order.
You can’t support a politician who embraces divisive politics and complain about the lack of cooperation.
You can’t encourage intoxication and expect sobriety.
You can’t corrupt the human heart and expect dignity.
You can’t lead the youth to delinquency and expect nobility.
You can’t corrupt the innocent and demand purity.
You can’t abandon self-discipline and expect independence.
You can’t reject objectivity and demand professionalism.
You can’t instigate chaos and expect efficiency.
You can’t over-inflate a child’s ego with pretentious praise and expect them to learn humility.
Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.
-John 15:20
You can’t support socialism and expect to grow personal wealth.
You can’t promote fascism and complain about oppression.
You can’t abuse those who provide for your safety and expect them to risk their lives for your benefit.
You can’t take up arms against a government and claim victimization when they pay attention.
You can’t promote radical ends of any spectrum and expect equilibrium.
You can’t accommodate thugs in a neighborhood and not expect children to get caught in the crossfire.
You can’t successfully fight a war with half measures or on the cheap.
You can’t ignore mental illness and demand sanity.
You can’t accommodate promiscuity and avoid STDs or unwanted pregnancies.
No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
-Luke 16:13
You can’t put your personal life on public stage and complain about violations of your privacy.
You can’t remove social boundaries and expect communal order.
You can’t expect government to provide for you and then complain about government intervention.
You can’t saturate a society with firearms and deny people the means of legitimate self-defense.
You can’t demand security and break all the locks.
You can’t build a wall and expect no one will try to climb it, tunnel under it, and go around it.
You can’t act like a fiend and complain that you’re not embraced.
You can’t do a rain dance and complain about the storm.
So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
-Matthew 7:12
It’s lunacy to think we can have it both ways…
_____
- In the Wake of Another Fathers’ Day… - June 17, 2022
- Repeating History: Be On Your Guard - May 15, 2021
- Thanksgiving…An Opportunity Often Squandered - November 21, 2020
