One of the greatest, most comforting, most reassuring, most empowering verses in all of the New Testament is Romans 8:1. After establishing that those seeking to be justified by the law were in fact condemned by the law, Paul assures New Testament Christians, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the…

We like to receive credit for things that we do. We like to receive recognition and a pat on the back. And, if someone else receives credit for something we did, it almost feels like we’ve been robbed. But, is that really a big deal? Think about some Biblical principles. “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each…

Of course, we know that we need to be a good example around everyone, but sometimes we may be tempted to think, “Well, they don’t even realize this particular thing is a right/wrong issue, so they won’t know that I’m even setting a good example for them.” Does that matter? When it comes to remaining sexually pure before (and after) marriage, to being…

In the kitchen, stirring is necessary. In the paint shop, stirring is necessary. But, in our relationships and interactions with others, we need to be oh-so careful when we stir and when we don’t. There are times to stir the right way, like “stirring up love and good works” (Heb. 10:24) and “stirring up by way of reminder” (2 Pet. 1:13; 3:1). But, more often than…

Before I heard it from Chick-fil-A, I heard a friend saying it years ago. Anytime that they would help us or do something nice for us and we told them, “Thank you,” this friend would always say, “Our pleasure.” For some reason, that always struck me when he said it. He didn’t say, “Sure,” or “No biggie,” or “You’re welcome,” or “No problem,” or any…

We all understand the concept of deposits into and withdraws out of our bank account. We understand that we must deposit more money into our account than we withdraw, lest our account is overdrawn, we have a negative balance, and we are penalized or cut off entirely. In his book, His Needs, Her Needs, Willard Harley introduced the concept that you have a “Love…

When certain Jews became Christians in the first century, they brought with them a self-generated arrogance, thinking that they were better Christians because they boasted in their circumcision, their fastings, their denial of certain meats, etc., etc. To these Christians Paul wrote, “Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another” (Gal. 5:26).  Think about that statement for twenty-first century Christians. Is…

The only two words some folks know in Matthew 7 are “Judge not.” And they act like there is a period or exclamation point after the word “not.” They could not be further from the truth. Certainly, Jesus says, “Judge not,” but following the comma He goes on to say, “…that you be not judged” (Matt. 7:1). Jesus is not teaching that it is…