As hard as it can be to believe, God differentiates between the sin that we do and who we are. This is true for every man, woman and child on the planet, whether a believer in Christ or not. God sees His image in us, even when we have been caught in cycles of ongoing sin. This can be hard to accept—that God still sees His beauty in us even at our worst. His ability to see His beauty in us extends...
Confession has always been and will always be central to the Christian life. Many of us would like to think that when Scripture teaches about confession, it means something we admit to ourselves or keep between God and ourselves. Admitting the truth to ourselves is essential. Making confession before God is essential. But neither takes the place of confessing to another human being our sins. This...
I remember one specific experience trying to pray in college. I had recently given in again to viewing pornography and I was feeling particularly ashamed. God seemed so distant and I had this picture in my head that he was turned away from me, and he had his arms crossed and an angry expression on his face. I’d experienced this before, but that particular day God’s voice broke into what I was...
It happened again today. I found myself mindlessly reaching for my phone. My hand was in my backpack digging for it when I stopped myself—a moment of grace. I’m experiencing this kind of reaching more than I want these days. Checking news in between meetings. Scrolling social media when I’m waiting for someone. Opening emails when I get into my car before I start driving. Checking tomorrow’s...
Does God want to control or oppress you? Is He, as the serpent tried to convince Eve long ago, holding out on you? In one sense, as a human being you are an individual, a unique part of creation, standing all on your own with no wires attached, no one else pulling the strings. On the other hand, you are, by God’s design, utterly dependent. If you think about it, it can be quite disquieting...
At times in the Christian life it seems God doesn’t come through on His promises. We try hard to obey, we try hard to trust Him, but we still end up with losses that feel too heavy to bear. When I was a little girl, I dreamed of having a happy marriage and a wonderful family. I can’t believe my “happily ever after” ended the way it did. We always thought our son would be a great man for God. It’s...