When we love as Christ has commanded us to love, we love with no respect to persons. Outside of Christ our love is conditional. We love those who say they love us, we love those who actually love us, we love those who understand us, we love those who think like us, we love those who look like us. When we love like that we’re falling short- way short. When we love people for particular reasons we distribute love unfairly. We love someone because they do things for us, but what about the one who does nothing for us? Do we still love them the same? We love the one…
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Are You a People-Pleaser?
Are you more concerned with people-pleasing than you are with pleasing God? Do you have an internal desire to keep the people in your life happy with what you do? Do you spend time thinking about what people think of you? If you answered yes to any of these questions then you, like me, are on the journey from people-pleasing to God-pleasing. We all have a need to belong. When people scream I don’t need anyone they’re lying. We all need people in our life to love us and accept us for who we are. With that, though, we have to learn to keep people in their proper place.…
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Just Love
The love we show to others has less to do with them, and more to do with Jesus. Although we’ve been raised in a world that teaches us to love those who love us, we must grow past that. We must be able to just love- regardless of how others may treat us. Following Christ is about living a live of love. Again, the love we show others has nothing to do with them and everything to do with the One we follow: “Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an…
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Just Be
Have you ever been told: You are enough. Life has a way of making us feel like we aren’t enough, like we have to do more and work harder to measure up to some imaginary, ever-changing standard. Books titled 10 Ways to get Rich and 10 Steps to a Better Life become national best-sellers. Why? Because we’re all trying to be something that we feel we’re not. We’re trying to make something happen. We’re trying to be bigger, badder, better. We feel it’s not enough to just be. The world tells us to be assertive, take what’s yours, and be confident cocky to get what you want. If you believe…
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Be an Individual
Before I am anything, I am an individual. Whatever I bring to my marriage, my children, my career, my relationships, and anything else that I’m apart of all starts with me. Sometimes we forget to be an individual, and find ourselves off balance in life. If we pull too close to other people then we’re limiting ourselves to be the best that we can be. I’m not discouraging closeness with others, but it’s important to keep everything and everyone in its proper place. We are social creatures so we do need trusting, healthy relationships; but none should be closer to us than Jesus. Positive role models and mentors can be…
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In Life Everything Serves a Purpose
Being a child of God comes with many, many benefits and assurances. One of them is that everything that happens in our life serves a purpose. Yes, everything serves a purpose. With God, nothing is purposeless, coincidental, or by accident. The God who created the heavens and the earth is not capable of an accident. There is also nothing that has happened to you that He didn’t allow- even the bad, hurtful & shameful things. Everything Serves a Purpose. We must realize that all of our experiences are either God-sent or God-allowed. When we see Him in everything that comes our way, we’re able to respond the right way. …
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Do you talk faith or LIVE by faith?
Do you merely talk faith or do you live by faith? One can understand faith, even discuss it, yet be unable to live it. Why? Living faith requires us to put some action behind our talk. You know the saying: actions speak louder than words. It’s one thing to say it, it’s a totally different thing to live it. Living by faith is not always easy. Actually, as we walk with Christ and grow in Him, living by faith can seem to get harder. Why? Because life is about growth and in order to keep growing we’re faced with obstacles that require us to put more action behind our talk. Following…
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LIFE: Live Strategically
Do you live with a plan? What values drive what you do? Do you have goals? Plans, values, and goals help us to live strategically. We must live our lives similar to running a business. We must make intentional decisions that are all focused on bringing us back the results that we desire. What results do you want to see from your life? If you don’t know what you want your future to look like, then it’s likely that you aren’t making the best decisions today. What you do today shapes your tomorrow. Live strategically. In order to live strategically, we must have an idea of why we’re living. This…
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MARRIAGE: Forgive, Love & Pray
Marriages are under attack. Marriages are of God and are very special to God so it’s no surprise that Satan attacks them. That’s how enemies operate. They know what you care about and they seek to destroy that. If we are going to enjoy the blessing of marriage as God intends, we must learn how to: forgive, love & pray. We must know without wavering that we have an enemy that seeks to destroy us, our marriages and our families. Jesus himself told us: “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might…
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What kind of woman are you?
This morning I read Proverbs 31:10-31, and the four adjectives that came to my mind were: Productive, wise, generous, and kind. Do those words describe you? What kind of woman are you? Proverbs 31 passage paints a beautiful portrait of the virtuous woman. This is a very different image than the idolized celebrity that could so easily be described as: Beautiful, successful, prideful, and vain. What words describe you? Where are you looking to determine what kind of woman to be? Romans 12:1 tells us not to be conformed to this world. So many of us women learn as we go, trying this and that until we realize what doesn’t work. We…
