So much of the Bible emphasizes listening, avoiding careless or hasty speech, and being considerate of others. And so much of that is because we don't know the hidden depths of each human we meet, nor can we understand their hopes and fears and dreams and struggles. [Click title to read more.]
Category: spiritual fruit
Giving Up The Fight Against Pain and Discomfort
It's not necessarily wrong to avoid pain, and to do what we can to minimize the pain, discomfort, fear, or grief in our lives. But a lot of us need to get more comfortable with being uncomfortable. [Click title to read more.]
New Installment Of Jonathan Study Now Available!
This week: if necessary, could you sacrifice even your dearest plans and expectations to fulfill the desires that God has for you? [Click title to read more.]
Your Glass Of Water
I challenge you this year to find a "glass of water" task in which you too will be spectacularly faithful. [Click title to read more.]
The Art of Holding Back
Many believers see themselves as truth-tellers, and well we should. The Bible demands that we speak in truth and in honesty and authenticity at all times, concealing nothing and without dissembling; that is, by the way, precisely why it's wrong for me to tell those white lies. But many believers also believe that truth-telling means "saying how you feel about everything at all times, no matter how hurtful or cruel, whether asked or unasked." And that is not what Biblical truth-telling is. [Click title to read more.]
Make The Small Sacrifices
Sometimes as believers we think of Jesus' sacrifice and it's so easy to become overwhelmed because it was so big. And it was. But on our end? We can start with little things. [Click title to read more.]
Blessed Be The Familiar, The Ordinary, and the Unremarkable
What you do might seem ordinary to you, and yet be remarkable to others. God wants to use the familiar in your life. [Click title to read more.]
Empathy Is Not A Dirty Word
When we engage in empathy we get closer to a real understanding of someone; we get a peek into who they are and what their soul is like. And it is from that beginning that we can build a relationship with someone, and also - perhaps most importantly - understand how it is that we can serve them and show them the love of Christ. [Click title to read more.]
Be Open To Correction From Unexpected Places
In our Christian lives, we tend to develop hierarchies: hierarchies of age, of authority. The problem is that as we ascend those hierarchies, as we grow in power, in age, or in knowledge, we often tend to entrench ourselves in our positions and ideas. We assume we are almost always right - or, at the very least, righter than those "beneath" us. [Click title to read more.]
Love Is Going To Feel Awkward
Loving or serving in the way God prefers is awkward and clumsy and strange and the only reason we can do it is because He does it from within us. [Click title to read more.]
Samaritan's Song 