Few healthy things in life are “one-and-done.” Consistency is needed in nearly everything! Do you want to have healthy teeth? You cannot just brush them occasionally. You must brush and floss every day, twice a day, for the rest of your life. Do you want to have a healthy relationship with your spouse? You cannot just put effort in randomly. You must put effort into your marriage day-in and day-out for the rest of your life. Similarly, if you want to have a healthy spiritua

People-pleasing is often confused with showing Christian love. Christian love intentionally puts the needs of others above one’s own selfish desires. Christian love serves a person’s NEED; however, it does not obey every whim or request that someone might make. By contrast, a people-pleaser feels an inability to say “no” to any request. A people-pleaser is...

Living in New Hampshire, Christians often end up feeling very isolated. After all, few congregations of the Lord’s church exist here, so it is hard to have much fellowship with other congregations. On top of that, because of the intense winters, many people become hermits through the winter months. That level of isolation appeals to some. However, there are serious dangers in succumbing to the temptation of indulging isolationism...

A particular young man made it his life’s goal to make more money than his father. Another young man made it his life’s goal to be the youngest CEO of a Fortune 500 company. Yet another young man made it his life’s goal to become so famous that his name was known throughout the world. Each one thought that when they reached their goal, they would be at the pinnacle of human existence - they would be satisfied and happy. However, each one was sorely disappointed...

Archimedes, the ancient Greek mathematician and physicist, is quoted as saying, "Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world." With this statement, he was discussing the physical advantage of proper leverage. In many ways, when dealing with people, patience is like Archimedes’ lever. Proverbs 25:15 teaches us that “By forbearance a ruler may be persuaded, And a soft tongue breaks the bone.” To understand this, let’s build some an

Lying as a form of kindness is a very old idea. Some believe that if the truth can hurt a person’s feelings or lead to uncomfortable situations, it should be avoided. If telling a “little white lie” means uncomfortable situations are averted and everyone is happy, this is obviously best. This way of thinking comes from the idea that hurt feelings and discomfort are the absolute worst things ever, and must be avoided at any cost. But, does that hold up to scrutiny?

A comfort zone is where you feel safe and unchallenged. We all have comfort zones in which things feel familiar and safe: certain people and social situations, certain jobs, preferred topics, etc. We get comfortable with a certain academic depth (or shallowness). While there is nothing wrong or sinful about having comfort zones, exclusively staying within our comfort zone naturally leads to stagnation...

We all know how important it is to be obedient to God and follow His word. These facts should not be news to any off us. Yet, sometimes obedience feels difficult. Sometimes we try to find every excuse we can to avoid obedience to God and His word. Why is that? You would think that if we know how important obedience is, then actually obeying would be easy. But it often is not easy. For many, the reason obedience is difficult is because of their attitude about the concept of ob

A while back, I watched a video about a woman explaining why she left her husband. He did not cheat on her. He was not abusive. She left him because he was “boring,” and she felt she could “do better.” Apparently, after a year of trying to catch a “higher value man” she was left lonely and depressed, aware now that the husband she threw away was actually a really good husband, even though he was not “exciting.” This is sadly common among both husbands and wives...

Our modern world is obsessed with convenience. Why cook a meal from scratch when you can microwave a frozen dinner? Why go visit friends when you can visit over video chat? Why walk when you can drive? Why study when you can ask an AI chat-bot? This level of ease can help in some situations, but it also has a number of drawbacks...

Many people seem to experience a mental disconnect regarding who they spend time with and the resulting situations in which they find themselves. A person who spends most of their time with negative people may wonder why they are so depressed. A person who spends a lot of time around heavy drinkers may wonder why they can’t stay sober. Someone who spends a considerable amount of time around the chronically unemployed may wonder why they can’t get motivated to get a job...

We often talk about the dangers of intoxication. However, for the person who is struggling with substance use, they may feel that there is no benefit to coming off the substances. Many people who resort to substance use do so because they are trying to escape the painful realities of their life. For that person, being sober is scarier than the inability to think straight when intoxicated. With that in mind, let's examine some of the benefits of sobriety...

Imagine for a moment a basketball team in which each member was trying to gain all the glory for themselves and saw the other players on their team as competitors. No matter how skilled those individual players were, the team would lose. For a basketball team to succeed, the individual players must work together, coordinate, and pass the ball. When they work as a team, they can overcome anything. The same is true in marriage...

Life is full of distractions: They may be pleasant or unpleasant, but they are distractions never-the-less. Interestingly, what constitutes a distraction differs for people greatly since it is based on an individual’s goals. What a motivated, goal-oriented person sees as a distraction could be the perceived purpose in life for an unmotivated, aimless person. What a righteous person sees as a sinful distraction, an unrighteous person might see as the only thing worth pursuing.

When people go through hard times, they will often ask something like, “Why is God letting this happen to me?” They may even state it as an accusation: “How dare God put me through this?” These questions and the ideas behind them can easily shake or even topple a person’s faith. You may notice that these questions are phrased as though the person is a victim in the situation. The accusation is that God is acting unfairly against them...

“Anything that makes me this happy could not be bad for me.” “Surely, God wants me to be happy, right?” “It feels too good to be wrong.” From a humanistic point of view these comments sound accurate, and are common among people trying to justify sin. But, are these statements biblical and correct? To answer that question, let’s look at what John the apostle says...

The beginning of a new year is a fascinating time. Many people optimistically make plans and resolutions for the coming year, deciding what they want to accomplish and feeling excited about what the year may bring. Others might feel indifferent about the new year, anticipating another year of the same old grind. Some people may even dread the new year, fearing some unknown event or dreading challenges it may bring, and feeling concerned that they will not live up to some stan

According to certain theologians, some of God’s commands seem to unequally impact those who have been harmed by cruel people. Because of this the argument is made that God’s commands don’t pertain in certain situations. These are often presented in hypothetical “what if” statements. These statements are formed in such a way where following God’s commands looks like the cruel option, and going against God’s law seems like the merciful option...

We live in a very negative and pessimistic society. Doom and gloom permeate every aspect of culture. Unfortunately, that pessimism has also permeated the church. Many Christians will only look at the negatives of any given situation. They see how hard it is to resist sin, so they despair of ever being able to overcome their bad habits. They see how difficult evangelism is, so they start to think that the church can never grow...

Most religious groups want to be holy. And God’s word teaches us how to be holy (c.f. 1 Peter 1:15-16). If those desiring to be holy simply did what God says to do, then the world would be a much better place. But for many, just “doing what the Bible says” seems oversimplified and they feel that there must be more to it than that.