Love Our Neighbor

“And he answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.’ ” – Luke 10:27 Many of you may recall that I changed the “Creed of the Beloved” from “and share His love with the world” to “share His love with my neighbor” because I felt led by the Spirit. After all, the Bible never tells us to love the world—did you know that? Scripture instructs us to love our neighbor while God loves the world. As John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world.” That is God’s role, not ours. I am not God. I cannot love billions of people across the globe, and neither can you. But here’s what you and I can do: we can love our neighbor. If everyone truly loves their

September 1, 2026 No Comments

Abiding in Him

“If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” – John 15:7 When Hannah and I first started dating, I quickly realized she was the one for me—honestly, I knew it from the moment I first saw her. As our relationship deepened, we memorized John 15 together, a passage that became incredibly meaningful to us both. In this chapter, Jesus offers a powerful metaphor: He is the vine, and we are the branches. If we become disconnected from Him, we cannot bear fruit. But if we remain connected to the vine—if we abide in Him—we will flourish and bear fruit in our lives. This vivid analogy illustrates what it means to abide in God. The Father is the gardener, tending to the vine. He prunes the branches that bear fruit so they will be even more fruitful,

August 31, 2026 No Comments

The Love Bank

“Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.” – Proverbs 19:17 Yesterday, I encouraged you to view life as a series of opportunities to make deposits in people’s love banks—to give, to serve, to encourage—without keeping score. Now, imagine reversing that approach: instead of giving, you begin to take from the love bank, swiping the love bank credit card with the promise to pay it back someday. If you keep taking without giving, what happens? Eventually, you’ll find yourself surrounded by people who see you as a taker. So what’s the result? You might feel the urge to leave town, hoping to escape your reputation. Imagine all those people gathering and discussing the great taker—Bobby Schuller. What would they say? It’s not likely to be positive. The point is simple: Jesus teaches us that loving kindness leads to abundance. When

August 30, 2026 No Comments

Keep Making Deposits

“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” – Galatians 6:9,10 Willard Harley writes about marriage, but his wisdom applies to every relationship. He introduces the concept of a “love bank”—an inner account we all carry, unconsciously keeping a ledger for every person we know. Debits and credits, deposits and withdrawals, add up to a balance sheet for each relationship. Harley’s advice for couples is simple: keep making deposits. When you make more withdrawals than deposits, you go into emotional debt, which can damage a relationship. The goal is to stay in the positive by adding to those accounts as often as possible. But this principle goes beyond marriage. Imagine approaching life as

August 29, 2026 No Comments

The Best Life

“For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” – Galatians 5:13 Today, I want to explore what makes for the best life. A truly fulfilling life is built on giving, serving, helping others, and continually developing yourself. As Jesus taught: if you wish to be first, choose to be last; if you desire greatness, become a servant to all. Not only does serving, giving, and helping others bring us profound and lasting happiness, but the more we do so, the more our destiny begins to shift in our favor. When we spread goodness into the world—especially to those who cannot repay us—the universe, held in God’s hands, starts to align in ways that bless our lives. Let’s clarify what it means to serve and give—and just as importantly, what serving is not. Serving

August 28, 2026 No Comments

Contrary to the World

“And they came to Capernaum. And when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?” But they kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest.” – Mark 9:33,34 Imagine the disciples, students of Jesus, arguing about greatness. To address their debate, Jesus brings a child into their midst and says, “Here’s the way to become great: invite this child.” Why does welcoming a child bring true greatness? It’s completely contrary to the world’s thinking. But in God’s wisdom, it’s because children cannot pay you back. As Christians, we believe the universe is just and rightly ordered by God. When you care for someone who cannot repay you, God Himself becomes your rewarder. His blessing far surpasses anything that this world or any wealthy person could provide. For those who are parents, foster parents, or

August 27, 2026 No Comments

Welcome One of These

“Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.” – Mark 9:37 Beginning in Mark 9:33, Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, their hometown. When the disciples were in the house, Jesus asked, “What were you arguing about on the road?” Remember, the disciples were quite young—likely between 15 and 25 years old—full of energy and ambition. Instead of answering, they kept quiet because they had been arguing about who among them was the greatest. Jesus sat down and called the twelve together. Notably, he didn’t scold them for their ambition or assert his own greatness. He didn’t say, “Don’t try to be first,” or, “How dare you argue about who should be the greatest?” Nor did he boast, “I’m Jesus, I’m the greatest—haven’t you heard of me?” Instead, Jesus offered a

August 26, 2026 No Comments

The Best Seat

“Do not put yourself forward in the king’s presence or stand in the place of the great, for it is better to be told, ‘Come up here’ than to be put lower in the presence of a noble.” – Proverbs 25:6,7 Yesterday, I reflected on the wisdom that “the first shall be last and the last shall be first.” In eighth grade, I stood just five feet two—short like my mom, while my dad was tall. But by sophomore year, I shot up to six-three and played power forward on the basketball team. Suddenly, I was often picked first for pickup games, which felt great. Yet, I knew I wasn’t the best player. There’s no feeling quite like having a group of teenagers lined up, and the captain points at you: “I’m taking that guy. What’s your name?”—”I’m Bobby, and I’m ready to play.” But if my goal was to

August 25, 2026 No Comments

If You Want To Be First

“So the last will be first, and the first last.” – Matthew 10:16 “If you want to be first, be last” might sound puzzling, but it holds real-life wisdom. When I was a kid, I loved basketball and played on my school team. I wasn’t the best, but I made the varsity squad as a power forward, usually starting—though not always. I’d say I was the third- or fourth-best on the team. At school, everyone knows the team rankings. But at the park on weekends, or after moving to a new school (which happened to me several times), nobody knows your skills. In pickup games, they judge you by how you look—mainly your height! I vividly remember the first time we played pickup basketball: the two best players picked teams, and I was chosen last. It felt terrible—like everyone assumed I couldn’t play, just because of my appearance. But that

August 24, 2026 No Comments

It’s the How

“If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.” – 1 Corinthians 13:3 Yesterday, we began exploring the abundance cycle. God desires for you to excel and break free from limitations. It’s not the “what” that God is opposed to; it’s the “how.” When you walk with God, the “how” looks very different from the world’s way. This is the key: if you want to save your life, what must you do? If you asked Jesus, “How do I save my life?” He would say: lose it. If you want to be free, He says you must become a servant. These may sound like riddles, but they reveal a deeper truth. If you want to be great, you must serve others. Notice, Jesus never says the desire to be great is wrong. He doesn’t criticize

August 23, 2026 No Comments

Positive Minute