You have no shot at experiencing real change in life if you’re habitually protecting your image, hyping your spiritual brand, and putting out the vibe that you’re a lot more unfazed by temptation than the reality you know and live would suggest.
God has seen our unloveliness – the deep brokenness and rebellion in our hearts – and instead of withdrawing, he pursues us to the beautiful end. He made an eternal commitment to sinners because of his great love for us. And because grace is true, you can face the world with all of its dangers and troubles, knowing you have been established forever as blameless by the holy groom, Jesus Christ.
As we gaze on Christ, the mind is informed, and the heart is inflamed, and the body begins to line up.
Nobody stumbles into godliness, ever. It simply doesn’t happen. There is no autopilot mode for the Christian life. We never see people in the Bible growing in godliness by coasting along.
The power to walk by faith in obedience is sourced in the grace of the gospel.
Really, all frustration is birthed out of unmet expectations, and so is nearly every conflict.
To obey the commands of Scripture can finally become a delight when we see that the reasons almost always center around God’s love and provision for us in Christ.
In too many marital conflicts, we work too hard at winning the argument and too little at winning the heart. You can express your feelings and thoughts, even share criticisms and complaints, but the end goal of marital conflict should be care for your spouse’s soul, not trying to rack up the most points. Seeking to win is not love.
When we learn to respond to each other rather than react, we will move much more quickly in our conflict toward resolution and reconciliation. Reactions only stoke the fires of conflict; responses, particularly godly ones, help us snuff out the conflict.
The theme of the Bible is not that the world’s not messy but that God’s at work in the mess.
We carry an insidious prosperity gospel around in our dark, little, entitled hearts. We come to the throne and say, “I’ll do this, and you’ll do that. And if I do this for you, then you’ll do that for me.
Our lamenting of God’s “silence” while our Bible goes undisturbed is actually quite revealing, because we want new revelation while at the same time we refuse to be obedient to what we already know.
Forgiveness is the ultimate expression of God’s unique beauty.
It is an EVIL thing to be an expert in the weaknesses of our brothers and sisters. We need to be experts in the strengths of our brothers and sisters.
And so creation itself is eagerly watching the sons and daughters of the King, waiting for the last one to come into the kingdom so that the rocks and trees can be set free.
Because marriage is meant to reflect the great sacrificial and sanctifying love Christ has for his church, it makes sense to connect your married life to a local Christian congregation.
Proverbs 31:30: “Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
We must help men and women see the epic in the ordinary details of life.
Truth is, we’re a lot better off, and a lot closer to experiencing real, feel-good moments, when we’re wringing ourselves out for the glory of God and fulfilling our daily tasks – at work, at home, in ministry, anywhere. What did Vince Lombardi say in that famous speech: “I firmly believe that any man’s finest hour – his greatest fulfillment to all he holds dear – is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle – victorious.
Holy discontentment produces a lot of restless energy that seeks rest in Christ and His gospel.