How to Love Your Enemies

by
how to love your enemies Christianity bible verses
-1 Samuel 24:12,13

If you could, you’d make sure everyone was happy with you. Normal people don’t want other people to hate them. But no matter how hard we try, eventually someone becomes our enemy.

You don’t have to hate someone for them to be your enemy. They just have to hate you. Romans 5:8, 10 explains, “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. . . . For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.”

God didn’t hate us. He loved us. But the Bible says we were his enemy. Likewise, even if you don’t hate anyone on earth, this does not mean you don’t have enemies. As hard as we try, some people just don’t like us. They may hate you for your faith, your skin color, your gender, or just for the sound of your voice. Sinners sin, and often times sin comes in the form of hate.

We all have enemies. So what are we to do?

Read more

God Says We Should Care About What Others Think of Us

by
what does the bible say about not caring what others think God
Colossians 4:3-6, Galatians 1:10

Does the Bible say we should not care what others think about us? No, but it does say we must seek to please God over people.

As every Christian matures, one of the things the Holy Spirit will surely convict us of is seeking the praise of man over God. In our sinful nature, we care about what others think of us for the wrong reasons.

Caring What Others Think of You Can Be Expressed Wrongly in Two Ways

When we seek the praise of people, it can be expressed in many different ways. The two ends of the spectrum are obsessive pursuit and obsessive avoidance. One person may do anything to be praised by people, while another person will do anything not to be seen by people, but both can have the same root issue – caring too much about what people think of them.

Read more

My Identity in Christ

by

“Who are you—Esau or Jacob?”- Genesis 27:18 (NLT)

my identity in Christ JesusWhat is my identity in Christ? Every Christian has asked it. It seems basic, like we all should know what our identity in Christ is.

But when answering the question, “What’s my identity in Christ?” we have to first start with what we were so we can better understand what we are now through putting
our faith in Jesus.

Before My Identity Was in Christ, My Identity Was Found in the Family of Liars (Sinful Man)

Abraham pretended to be Sarah’s brother (Genesis 12, 20), Isaac did the same thing to his wife Rebekah, Jacob pretended to be Esau (Genesis 27), and on Jacob’s wedding night Leah pretended to be Rachel.

Out of this family of lies, to highlight God’s amazing grace, came the whole nation of Israel, and out of the nation of Israel came the Savior, thus fulfilling God’s promise to Abraham that “all peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:3).

Abraham and his family was such a fitting choice for God to bring about redemption through because the whole human race sins just like them. We all lie about ourselves. We try to survive on this planet by adapting our identities to the present situation around us.

If it is more fitting to be a womanizer at work so we will fit it with the guys, we adapt into that. If a man you desire to date likes women who dress provocatively, your wardrobe changes. If the woman you desire to date wants a well mannered man, you put on a different face than you have when with the guys at the gym.

All sin is a marring of God’s original image for you. God made man in his likeness, with a godly, holy, and pure identity. Sin occurs when we change who we are to protect ourselves from earthly threats rather than obeying and trusting God.

So before my identity was in Christ, my identity was rooted in lies.

Christ’s Identity Never Changed Like Mine

Read more

Why Is the Trinity So Confusing?

by
trinity, confusing, Bible
Genesis 1:26, Deuteronomy 6:4, Matthew 28:19

Why is the Trinity so confusing?

It is perhaps the most important doctrine in all of Christianity. And the Trinity is probably the most confusing doctrine as well. God is one, and God is three. It sounds like a really hard math problem. But God is not an equation to be figured out, but rather our Lord to be loved, enjoyed, and obeyed.

Read more

How to Submit to Authority Without Feeling Devalued

by
How to Submit to Authority Scriptures
Philippians 2:3-7

Taking orders is difficult. Like players yelling at the officials in a sports competition, our natural reaction is to rebel against anyone who may exercise their authority over us. When a professor gives us poor marks on a paper we thought was top quality, we instantly feel the need to attack them verbally behind their backs not because we disagree so much but because we despise the idea of the professor being able to do what she likes to our paper.

Read more

The Danger of “Lukewarm Christianity”

by
the danger of lukewarm Christianity
I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. . . . Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. – Revelations 3:15-20

Perhaps the most dangerous type of sin is the kind which we think does not need to be atoned for. The worst place to be is the place where we think things are “not that bad.”

Read more