Understanding Love

True friends are those who are willing to partner with us in things that really matter to us. True friends are willing to help simply because they love us, even if the task isn't something they would have ordinarily valued. In John 21:15 we gain insight into a conversation between two friends, Jesus and Simon Peter. Scripture says, When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?" He said to,…

Throughout the world, people are mistreated and traumatized, and many carry deep scars throughout life. Not everyone’s experiences are extreme, but even mild hurts can fester, affecting relationships and self-image. Something as common as betrayal or rejection by friends or family can lead to distorted thinking and negative behaviors. Unhealed hurts can lead to various symptoms, such as feelings of inferiority, fear of failure or criticism, and oversensitivity. Some…

Francis of Assisi was called “the second Christ” because his life was so totally given over to expressing the life of Jesus. What can we learn from this man devoted like no other? “As Saint Francis did not love humanity but men, so he did not love Christianity but Christ,” wrote Chesterton. Wow. Just let that sink in. Francis didn’t fall in love with church; he fell in love with Jesus. “His religion was not a thing like a theory but a…

Learn to hear the voice of God. Yep. It’s the simplest, most helpful, least practiced treasure and it will literally rescue you in countless ways. The secret of the Christian life—and Christian marriage—is that you don’t have to figure it out. You don’t have to figure life out, you don’t have to figure each other out, you don’t have to figure parenting out, or money or family. You have a counselor, you have a guide, you have God.…

Hattie May Wiatt, a six-year-old girl, lived near Grace Baptist Church in Philadelphia, USA. The Sunday school was very crowded. Russell H. Conwell, the minister, told her that one day they would have buildings big enough to allow everyone to attend. She said, ‘I hope you will. It is so crowded I am afraid to go there alone.’ He replied, ‘When we get the money we will construct one large enough to get all the children in.’ Two years later, in 1886,…

God desires friendship with you. God doesn’t tolerate you, neither does He love you out of obligation. Love is simply who He is. You aren’t called to just follow God but you are invited into fellowship with Him. That word ‘fellowship’ translated in the Greek, is ‘koinonia’ which means association, community, intercourse, joint participation and communion. God is ultimately calling you to live your life close to Him. This friendship that…

We live in a larger story. This is not the land of the white picket fences with a chicken in every pot. We don’t live in Oz or the Kansas of its wizard. There is an incredibly good ending to our story, but it often isn’t on this side of eternity. Joy comes. Here. Joy is available. Now. It is birthed in the unchanging love of our Father. To know God’s love is to be able to stand in gusts and gales, and though our bodies be knocked over, our souls remain…

‘People often ask me what Mother Teresa was like,’ writes Shane Claiborne in his book *The Irresistible Revolution*. ‘Sometimes it’s like they wonder if she glowed in the dark or had a halo. She was short, wrinkled, and precious, maybe even a little ornery, like a beautiful, wise old granny. But there is one thing I will never forget – her feet. Her feet were deformed. Each morning I would stare at them. I wondered if she had contracted.…

Two octogenarians, one from Germany and the other from Denmark, were an unlikely couple. They had each enjoyed sixty years of marriage before being widowed. Though living only fifteen minutes apart, their homes were in separate countries. Still, they fell in love, regularly cooking meals and spending time together. Sadly, in 2020, due to the coronavirus, the Danish government closed the border crossing. Undeterred, every day at 3:00 p.m., the two met at the border on a…