Jesus commands all His followers to love others perfectly. Yet this is something each one of us struggles to fully obey. We understand the commandment in our minds, but our hearts may be pulled by invisible strings towards things like fear, resentment, envy, and judgment instead. Romans 7 describes this...
The Bible provides a lot of practical advice on money, including warnings about the things that bring financial poverty and spiritual curses. Our attitudes about money will always reveal the true nature of our hearts; whether we love God and love people more than riches. Here is a quick list...
The world chases after “bigger, better, faster, stronger” in the name of progress. We are told we can achieve anything as long as we try hard enough. Sadly, we can bring this same performance-based mentality into our relationship with God. We believe we can achieve spiritual “enlightenment” through our own...
Compassion is an amazing quality from God that enables us to foster deeper understanding and relationships, even with antagonistic people. By allowing the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with God’s loving compassion, we are able to move beyond anti-social behaviours to empathise with other people’s inner hurts and insecurities....
Both the poor and the rich face many temptations but the super wealthy face their own unique set of challenges, particularly when they unintentionally allow their wealth to define their identity and steer their lives. Jesus proclaimed that it is very hard for a rich person to enter the Kingdom...
Perfectionists often have a hard time understanding God’s love, grace, and forgiveness towards us, because we feel like we haven’t done enough or been good enough. A deeply imprinted inner script convinces us that, “Anything less than excellent is not good enough.” Sadly, perfectionism obstructs our relationship with a God...
A major stumbling block for believers who suffer injustices is the belief that we have the right to retaliate and set things straight. We are told that “what goes around, comes around.” The world glorifies “heroes” who teach the “bad guys” a lesson. Never mind if we blindly leave a trail...
All food produced from God’s earth is good. The Bible points out that wine “gladdens the heart of man”. Unfortunately, mankind has a tendency to misuse God’s good gifts. Today, alcoholic binge drinking is socially tolerated and even glorified with stories of outlandish behaviour and missing memories. Many of us are unaware of the...
All human beings are created by God, who is the Father of all life. God’s Word shows that He tenderly forms each baby inside his or her mother’s womb and gives it a name. God calls every child a gift and blessing from Him. Hence, it can be heartbreaking when we...
We can acquire vast amounts of knowledge but still make the wrong choices in life. It takes wisdom to decipher what is constructive, timely and appropriate for the long run. For believers, wisdom is not just the well-advised application of factual knowledge. Our wisdom comes from the ultimate Source of all...
Venting and articulating our inner frustrations and hurts helps release our emotional pains. Our bodies need a way to let our negative emotions out and not suppress them. There are, however, godly and ungodly ways to “let off steam“. It may surprise us to know that the healthy way to...
Being busy doesn’t guarantee that we accumulate value. The Bible states that a meaningful life is one which is quiet, restful, peaceful and joyful. Instead, it is the “wicked” who have no rest. How can we slow down and resist the temptation to be busy all the time? 1 Thessalonians 4:11 NLT Make it...
Stubborn people who are headstrong, wilful and inflexible are unpleasant to be around. But there is a type of stubbornness that’s vital for believers of Jesus Christ. God is stubbornly faithful and steadfast in His love for us, and we need to be stubbornly loyal to Him and His commandments...
Mankind has made incredible progress in knowledge based on what we can observe over a few thousand years. Unlike us, God’s Holy Spirit is simultaneously present in every dimension in this immense universe and observes everything. He reads the minds of billions of people every nanosecond of our lives. Compared to...
It is natural to be cautious about anyone who wants to be our friend just for some personal benefit, especially if they know that we have the ability to improve their lives. But what if that person is us? We treat God the same way whenever we pray only when...
Jesus, in all His magnificent power and glory, is so perfectly assured and secure in who He is that He has no qualms in comparing Himself to a gentle baby lamb. This is the beauty of God’s humility. Human beings, on the other hand, are driven by a constant need to...
Many of us have bought into the world’s view of happiness, which entails being secure, popular, entertained, in a relationship and self-fulfilled. Happiness, as the world preaches, may look fulfilling on the outside but is ultimately temporal. Deep contentment can only be found by resting in God’s unmovable love, peace,...
Anger can set off hot emotions and physical reactions in our bodies. Anger is usually triggered when we believe that someone is being unfair, unkind or unacceptable. If we cannot help but get angry at even slight agitations, we might need to ask God to show us the reasons why....
Wisdom, understanding, and knowledge are all good gifts from God’s Holy Spirit. Unfortunately, when we use such gifts without the fear of the Lord in our hearts, we can become judgemental and condemning. Exodus 31:3 NIV and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding,...
Fear is often driven by us imagining the worst and asking “what if?” We needlessly “spin our wheels” going nowhere – until God releases the brakes and sends us off in His planned direction. All our initial anxious activity ends up bringing us no benefit whatsoever. Instead, it only exhausts us...