When invitations are innocent, we should be open to their call. We waste life by neglecting its invitations. So I need to ask myself, “How easily invited am I? When life is entreating me to follow a better path, am I receptive or resistant?”
When you’ve seen something interesting, tell somebody about it. When you’ve heard a song or a sound that thrilled you, describe it to another person. Even the texture of things we touch and the aroma of things we smell are worth talking about.
We do not seek enough. It would do most of us good to acquire a healthy dissatisfaction with the present state of our minds. We need more of the spirit of the pioneer and the adventurer — a lifelong quest for truth is what we should be involved in.
If the “what” of drive is important, so is the “how.” A person’s goal might be the noblest thing in the world, but we wouldn’t praise his drive if he went after it by lying, cheating, and running over other people. Ends don’t justify means.
We may not reason very well at times (“jumping to conclusions” is a habit we all have), but dealing with evidence is unavoidable. It is a part of our day-to-day experience. So the thing we must do is get better at the business of handling evidence.
We need many kinds of closeness, but mostly we need God. Our need for other people is only an inkling of our need for the Creator of us all. So making closeness to God a priority — and diligently pursuing that priority — is life’s best endeavor.
In addition to equilibrium within ourselves, we can also think of it in relation to other people and work toward relationships that are well balanced. It is worth striving for an equilibrium in which our relationships are justly and fairly balanced.
We must decide to be responsive people. While “responsibility” is automatically ours by virtue of being human (we were given the ability to respond), “responsiveness” is not automatic. The quality of our responses is a matter of choice on our part.
Hindsight often reveals that the very best time was long after we thought the event should have taken place. We may not like it, but later is sometimes better. “All comes at the proper time to him who knows how to wait” (Vincent de Paul).
Most of the time, the shortest way out is “through.” We can’t make our problems disappear, but we can deal with them honorably. We may be afraid, but we can be true to our deepest principles. That’s the only kind of fearlessness that counts.
If our present position is that we have said no to Christ, we’re on the side of the enemy. But Christ invites us to change our minds and obey the ...
Fervent and faithful, at least to the best of his understanding, Apollos needed to be shown “the way of God more accurately” (Acts 18:26). And to his credit, when Priscilla ...
As Paul reminded Timothy, the Scriptures are able to make us “wise for salvation” (2 Timothy 3:15). Whatever may seem right to us, we would do well to listen humbly ...
“There are two freedoms: the false, where man is free to do what he likes; the true, where a man is free to do what he ought.” Freedom is not ...
Paul described the Christian’s new life in Colossians 3:1-17. We have new goals, thoughts, and habits. With Christ as our Lord, we live under a new authority. And having been ...
The stability of the promised kingdom would be such that it “shall stand forever.” The ups and downs of history would not faze it, and no enemy could conquer it. ...
God said to David, “Your throne shall be established forever.” The kingdom of which God spoke would not be geographical but spiritual (John 18:36) — and this is the very ...
The path to heaven passes through the territory of repentance, and that is a painful place to be. But the horror of our sins has to become real to us. ...
It is in the gospel that God has revealed His plan. The righteousness He is willing to provide is based on faith in His Son. We might have preferred some ...
Real faith involves more than accepting the facts of the gospel intellectually. As it grows to maturity, faith turns into confidence and trust — a trust that will risk everything ...
Whether in the operation of his intellect, emotions, or will, Abraham’s point of departure was always this: what has God said? And he continues to be the spiritual forefather of ...
The gospel does not deal in superficial solutions. According to Jesus, the problem is not just our dysfunctional behavior — it is us. It is in the deepest depths of ...