As a thirty-one-year old, these are by far the most conflict-ridden times of my life. Regardless of the network or political persuasion, the word that seems to come out of every news anchor’s mouth to define these days is “divisive.”
How can you love people better? How can you love your wife, husband, girlfriend, boyfriend, friends, or coworkers like Christ loves you? How can you love less conditionally?
As a Christian, one of the most important things in your life should be your relationships. God has told us to love him first and foremost. But he has told us the second most important part of our life is to love other people (Matthew 22:36-40).
Therefore, our human relationships should be ultra-important to us. Whether it is a marriage or a dating relationship, there are certain biblical principles that can help you have healthier connections with the people you love.
There are so many things that could be said when covering a huge topic like “Christian Relationship Advice.” Here are just 7 of the top Christian principles I believe can help your marriage or dating relationship.
How can you help the needy? Are Christians supposed to focus on the material needs and hope the person will ask about the spiritual side? Or are we supposed lead with a verbal gospel presentation and then offer material assistance afterwards?
On many days it’s no problem for me to just jump in and help wherever and whenever needed. But all too often, if I’m being totally honest, I only like serving Jesus and other people when I was planning on it and I had time to mentally prepare for it. I struggle with being inconvenienced.
What does the Bible say about being liked? When I first thought of this question, it felt the “right answer” was to say that Christians should not worry about being well liked at all.
Is there a healthy guilt and an unhealthy guilt according to the Bible? Is there a biblical difference between condemnation and conviction? Does the Bible say Christians should still experience condemnation, conviction, both, or neither?
In short, there are many differences between condemnation and conviction. When the two are confused, great harm can occur in the Christian soul.
Read two free sample chapters from my newest book, Intertwined: Our Happiness Is Tied to God’s Glory (Two Free Sample Chapters PDF)
As children we imagined we would find the perfect spouse, the perfect job, buy the perfect house, go on perfect adventures, and well . . . have the perfect life. Somewhere along the way, however, we quickly realized we will experience many things on this earth, but perfection is certainly not one of them.
What does the Bible say about forgiveness and reconciliation? It’s the right question to ask because of all the places to look, the Bible is absolutely jammed packed with relevant information regarding the connection between forgiveness and reconciliation.
What’s the difference between forgiveness and reconciliation? Must you always reconcile to forgive? Do you need both people to choose forgiveness for it to occur? Do you need both people to choose to be reconciled? The Bible answers all of these questions about forgiveness and reconciliation.
So far in this Christianity 101 series, our topics have been mainly centered on an individual’s relationship with God. Not only must individual Christians learn to love God, we must learn to love other people and we must also learn to be loved by other Christians.
While Christianity must always be personal, it must be lived out within a Christianity community, specifically within a local church. So what is the church? Why is the church so important for our personal transformation? And how can we love other Christians and be loved by them in the context of a local church?