The internal struggle against sin is itself reason to hope. It’s evidence of the Master’s work in your heart, a spark of goodness within that wants to grow. But for many who struggle, however hard they try, the spark of good remains just a spark, seemingly ineffective amidst the familiar dark waters of temptation. Can you relate? You want to stop yelling at your kids, but you lost your temper...
How to Keep Relief from Ruining You
We live in a culture addicted to relief. Whether aspirin, TV, workaholism, gossip, food, or porn, we run to relief at every turn. Why not? If we can experience relief now, why would we not take it? Because it’s ruining us. Why? Because individually and collectively we’ve elevated relief over restoration. Relief is a lessening or removal of suffering. Restoration is when something is brought...
4 Lesser-Known Leadership Tips
Four tips for leaders concerned with helping those who most need their leadership.
When Experience Isn’t a Good Thing
Nothing on earth has the authority to define you. Your identity—your true identity—is who God created you to be. And yet, what you experience regularly informs your sense of who you are. In other words, your experiences—your circumstances, interactions, feelings, temptations, actions, etc.—all give you their opinion about who you are. And as you might guess, their opinion frequently doesn’t align...
If You Struggle to Pray
If you struggle to pray, instead of trying to drum up more discipline, there's a better place to start.
Shhhhhhhame
Shame hurts. And when you’ve done something wrong, that’s a good thing. Like all pain, it’s meant to tell you something’s amiss and needs attention. When a splinter enters a person’s hand, pain sensors alert the person that there’s a problem by making the hand hurt. When the splinter’s removed, the wound is cleaned, and the cells regenerate, the hand no longer hurts. Likewise, when shame is...
