Let’s say you’ve mustered the courage to approach someone you’ve offended. You’ve confessed what you did with sincerity. You’ve asked for forgiveness. But he or she refuses to forgive you. Now what?
Read MoreCategory Archives: Love
Three Basic Ingredients of Servanthood
The Word of God lays a solid, biblical foundation for what it means to have a servant mentality. But let’s get some handles on what’s involved in pulling it off. For starters, let me suggest three basic ingredients of servanthood.
Read MoreHumility and Inferiority
Having “humility of mind” is really an attitude, isn’t it? It’s a preset mentality that determines ahead of time thoughts like this: “I care about those around me.” “Why do I always have to be first?”
Read MoreThe Servant as a Giver
I like the tongue-in-cheek definition of philosophers one of my seminary professors would occasionally use. It’s classic: Philosophers are people who talk about something they don’t understand and make you think it’s your fault!
Read MoreEncouragement in Action
If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person? (1 John 3:17) Going to the statement found in Hebrews 10:24, we are to “consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds.” In other words, […]
Read MoreBeing Real, Part Two
Yesterday I told you about Dave Cowens, an NBA star who disappeared one day on a quest for solitude and meaning. I noted that to “find yourself” requires that you take time to look. And it’s essential if you want to be a whole person. The word is real. It takes time and it usually hurts. The Velveteen Rabbit is a classy book for children with a message for adults.
Read MoreOur Speech
MR PIGS . . . MR NOT PIGS . . . OSAR . . . CM PENZ . . . LIB . . . MR PIGS. Okay, give it a whirl. Read all those words again and translate. If you can—I can tell you what part of the country you’re from. Your speech will betray you . . . it does every time. A couple of Sundays ago, I was talking with a group of visitors following a morning service. Several were from different sections of our nation.
Read MoreReckless Friendship
A friend is always loyal, and a brother is born to help in time of need. Proverbs 17:17 A special joy binds two friends who are not reluctant to risk danger on each other’s behalf. If a true friend finds you’re in need, he or she will find a way to help. Nor will a […]
Read MoreLove Is Charming
Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 1 Corinthians 13:4–5 Love is not “jealous” or “arrogant.” Think of these two terms in contrast to “patient and kind.” First, […]
Read MoreLove in Action
Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. 1 John 3:18 Love—genuine love—is something that defies definition, yet, like grace, it is fundamental to the Christian. For millennia, words have eluded the very best poets and philosophers in their quest to analyse love, quantify […]
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