When You’re Still Keeping Score Scripture (ESV) “Love… does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful.” — 1 Corinthians 13:5 Resentment can develop when we believe someone hasn’t treated us fairly. Maybe you invested a lot in a relationship and didn’t receive the same consideration in return. You may have…
When You Stop Expecting Anything Good Scripture (ESV) “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” — 1 Corinthians 13:7 I’ve met people who have experienced enough disappointment that they’ve stopped expecting much from anyone. Sometimes their experiences make that understandable. They’ve seen promises broken and watched situations that should’ve…
Just Because You Can Doesn’t Mean You Should Scripture (ESV) “For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think…” — Romans 12:3 One of the challenges of being capable is that people begin bringing you things they believe you…
Striving Is More Than Hard Work Scripture (ESV) “Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.” — Psalm 127:1 I believe in hard work. I do not think effort is the problem. Some things worth building take a lot out of you. Striving starts when the work gets loaded with…
Guilt Should Take You Somewhere Scripture (ESV) “For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret…” — 2 Corinthians 7:10 Guilt is not always the enemy. If you did something wrong, feeling the weight of it can be appropriate. Something should register when we hurt someone or cross a line. But guilt…
Performance Turns Everything Into a Test Scripture (ESV) “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.” — Colossians 3:23 Performance changes the way you live because nothing feels neutral anymore. A meeting becomes a test. A conversation becomes a test. Even good work can start feeling like proof that you…
Ego Makes Too Much About You Scripture (ESV) “Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips.” — Proverbs 27:2 Ego has a way of making you the center of things that were never really about you. Somebody disagrees with you, and it feels like disrespect. Somebody else…
You Never Had as Much Control as You Thought Scripture (ESV)“Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring.” — James 4:14 We dealt with control earlier as the desire to guarantee an outcome. Here’s the uncomfortable part underneath that: most of what we call control is really influence. Our decisions matter. We can prepare…
We Can Make Almost Anything Sound Reasonable Scripture (ESV)“Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” — James 1:22 One thing humans are really good at is explaining ourselves. We know why we reacted the way we did. We know what the other person did first. We know how tired we were…
Questions Don’t Cancel Faith Scripture (ESV)“I believe; help my unbelief!” — Mark 9:24 There are things I believe deeply that I still don’t fully understand. I don’t think that makes faith weak. I think it makes us human. We are finite people trying to understand a God who is not. The problem comes when we…
