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Be Gentle

“A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” – Proverbs 15:1 Today, I want to share how being aware of what people are going through and being sensitive to their pain enables us to love as Jesus did. I want to talk about how we can become a life-giving presence in relationships with others — be gentle. In our world, it seems that we have gotten more and more harsh with each other. Whether in politics or religion, people have become violent in their rhetoric and language. When we get in a fight with our spouse or get angry at the guy who cut us off in traffic, many of us tend to respond angrily and with a mean spirit. However, this is not helping us as a society. Even as we are forced to function in an angry world, there’s one important thing to remember:

October 29, 2022 1 Comment

Humility is a Superpower

“He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way.” – Psalm 25:9 Can I make you a promise today? Your life will be better and you’ll be more successful in general if you’re not trapped by the opinions of other people. Instead, let’s learn to rise above what others are saying and connect with the goodness of God. Being humble is honestly a superpower that’s being lost today. With so much false humility in society these days, it’s becoming increasingly extraordinary to be truly humble. I respect those who have genuinely trained themselves to stop focusing on the cares of this world. These are individuals who chose to become the kind of people who encourage others, and can rejoice with people when they rejoice. There are many situations and circumstances in which we can feel offended and hurt. When you’re not invited to an event and

September 16, 2022 No Comments

A Life of Peace

“Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.” – Romans 14:19 As we continue our series on eternal living, the second element that eternal living gives you is a life of peace. Peace with God, and peace with your neighbor. So many of the compulsive behaviors we have in life are because we don’t have any peace. Yes, we’re not at war physically, and we’re not involved in hand-to-hand combat, but inside our minds we carry a lot of turmoil. This is why we run to drugs, alcohol, or that old relationship we shouldn’t go to. Sometimes we give up on life, or we fall into other traps that will entangle us and keep us from tranquility. We don’t have peace within. How can you have peace in God’s world if you’re not at peace with God? You have to be at

August 27, 2022 No Comments

Jesus Softens Hard Hearts

“Then he told them many things in parables, saying: ‘A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.’” – Matthew 13:3,4 I touched on this subject last month, but today, I want to look at how hard hearts develop. Many of us are familiar with the parable of the sower, which is the story Jesus told of the farmer who went out to scatter seed; some of it fell on the road, some on rocky soil, some on thorny soil, and some on good soil. The thing that most fascinates me is the seed that fell on the road. Unlike our paved highways today, a road in Jesus’ day would have been simply a dirt-packed trail that had been trodden so frequently it had become impacted, hard, and nothing could grow there.

June 14, 2022 1 Comment

Hold Others Gently

“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” – Ephesians 4:2 Henri Nouwen once said that being in a relationship with another person is like holding a bird with broken wings. In other words, we must acknowledge that the human soul is fragile. An injured bird is delicate, and it can’t be grasped too tightly lest it be crushed and hurt further. Likewise, as we attempt to connect with and express care for someone else, we must be gentle. Otherwise, we might squash their spirit and smother them in our attempts to “help.” And while we can’t hold on too tightly, we also can’t be careless with our connections. Like an injured bird will fall and die if not cradled securely, when we refuse to engage emotionally with those closest to us — whether our spouse, our kids, or our friends — our bond is

September 14, 2021 No Comments

How We Fight

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” – 2 Timothy 4:7 We should all aspire to fight the good fight and finish our race well, but in perilous times, many of us wonder how it’s possible. That said, I believe it bears stating that one of the foundational principles of the Christian faith is the manner in which we undertake our battles. Over the past few days, we’ve seen that the world’s system is brutal and beastly and that there is just One who has overcome it. The Son of Man ascended into Heaven and took authority over all the kingdoms of the earth, but he did it after He was bitten and smitten. In fact, He permitted Himself to be wounded by the devil — even to the point of physical death — so He could crush his head once

August 27, 2021 No Comments

A Compassionate Touch

“When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.” – Mark 6:34 While there are many words we can use to describe how healing happens in the church, if I were to pick one, it would be compassion. Nearly every time Jesus restored, touched, or taught in the Bible, it says that He had compassion for the people He was helping. In fact, this familiar word literally means to “suffer alongside.” The term passion, which is often used to describe the cross, comes from the french word for suffering, which is pati, and when you add the prefix co, it means to “suffer with.” Truth is, there’s great healing power in offering sympathy and tenderness to an emotionally-wounded neighbor, and since we live in a world that can’t seem to stop

July 30, 2021 No Comments

Words Can Wound

“But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.” – Matthew 12:36,37 Like it or not, I believe we carry around careless and unkind things spoken over us in our hearts…and even in our bodies. As I was growing up, I was often called “stupid” and “clumsy,” and to this day, though people can say a lot of things and not upset me, if someone utters either of those words, I have a strong emotional and physical reaction. You see, labels create a negative imprint on our spirits, and when we’re identified by them in any season of life, they continue to haunt us. Even as an adult, I’ve laid awake at night on several occasions thinking about vitriol spewed

March 26, 2021 No Comments

Pain Becomes a Plan

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” – Romans 8:28 Chocolate hearts, shades of red and pink, cards, cupcakes, and gifts…these are things we see a lot of as Valentine’s Day approaches. And while society tells us that “all we need is love,” when we behold the depth of heartache and division in the world today, it feels as if love is a somewhat foreign concept. However, despite what we see, the fact remains that God loves us more than we can even imagine. No matter what we’ve gone through, He is faithful, and He has the power to turn circumstances that could have broken us into milestones that birth divine wisdom. In fact, if we surrender our pain to Him and ask for His perspective, He will make us indestructible and

February 3, 2021 No Comments

Embrace Those Who Are Broken

“But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.’” – Matthew 9:13 I believe one of the biggest challenges generational Christians face is internalizing the truth that Jesus came to save sinners. I know this was the case for me. I grew up in the world of church and in a subculture that was religious and somewhat legalistic. I was a “good kid,” and I wanted to be accepted by the people who surrounded me, but I had no idea that I was missing out on one of the greatest hallmarks of Jesus’ ministry. I think this is why I have often been drawn to the story of Peter, who was originally called Simon. In Hebrew, his name was pronounced “Shimon,” and it means “to hear or obey.” Since monikers in the Bible are often associated

January 6, 2021 No Comments

Be Gentle

Humility is a Superpower

A Life of Peace

Jesus Softens Hard Hearts

Hold Others Gently

How We Fight

A Compassionate Touch

Words Can Wound

Pain Becomes a Plan

Embrace Those Who Are Broken

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