Category: Today’s Truth

Growth is essential in your faith and walk with the Lord. If you don’t grow and stay stagnant instead, then you will never fully experience the blessings of God. Just like we experience the joy and pain of physical growth throughout our life, we also experience the joy and pain of spiritual growth. This is all a part of the sanctification process.

A new believer is often called “a baby Christian.” This is because they are new in the faith and in need of growth. 1 Corinthians 13:11 says, “When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things.” As children, we had a limited understanding of the world around us. As we grew, we gained reason and wisdom and no longer thought and spoke as a child. Just as this verse says, we grew up and put away childish things. We grow in our spiritual walk the same way. As new Christians, we don’t have a deep knowledge of the Word and who God is. However, through Bible Study, church, and seeking to understand, we grow in wisdom. We put away the childish things of our youth. Some people do not grow out of their childish faith. They cling to a simple understanding and refuse to put away childish things. Is this faith at all? What does that tell you about your relationship with God?

Do you really know God? Do you know Him and His fullness? Would you consider yourself a baby Christian in the faith or have you grown in your faith? Spend some time praying about your Christian walk and how you can grow. Surround yourself with other believers who can encourage you.

One of the best traits that makes God’s love better than any kind of human love is that it is unending. There is no beginning and no end to the love of God. It is vast and wide. Ephesians 3:18 describes His love as wide, long, high, and deep. It goes on to say in verse 19 “May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.” When you experience the love of Christ, you are made full.

This is all too true when you look at someone’s life that doesn’t know Christ. Oftentimes they have an emptiness and search for their purpose or the meaning of life. They may search in books, religions, or in other people. They will come up empty every time. They don’t understand the love of Christwhich is why they go searching in other places. When they finally find Christ, they are made whole. It is overwhelming how His love washes over them. Their name is immediately written in the book of life and they become a child of God.

God’s love lasts forever. Christians will experience the love of God forever. They will never be plucked from the hand of God. It is impossible to love a human being in that way without the love of God; however, God loves unconditionally and His love is without end.

Life throws some tough trials and tribulations every single day. Cancer diagnosis, loss of a loved one, strained relationships, and other difficult situations can make life unbearable. The only thing that makes those times survivable is love, more specifically, God’s love. It always endures. One definition that Dictionary.com provides for the word endure is “to continue to exist, last.”

Have you ever lost someone you loved or seen how someone reacted after they lost someone. It is as if they do continue to exist for a while. Holidays come and go; seasons come and go. Yet they continue going on, enduring. God gave us the ability to endure through hard times. It is only in His love that we can even endure. He makes it possible. His love gives us hope and gives us peace. We know that He is in control and will get us through anything. He will walk beside us and carry us. Psalm 119:114 says, “You are my refuge and my shield; your word is my source of hope.” He is our refuge. We can hope in Him. He is a good God who never leaves us.

Do you feel like you are just existing? Just enduring through the next thing? Know that love is enough to carry you through. God’s love will give you the peace that you need to be able to endure and last.

Love always hopes. It hopes for eternity. It hopes through the good times and the bad. Romans 5:5 tells us that hope never disappoints. There are a lot of things in this life that will disappoint and leave you feeling lost and alone. People will fail you. Dreams will eventually leave you feeling empty. There is nothing that is trustworthy in this world except God the Father. He will never leave you feeling empty or alone. Hebrews 13:5 says that He will never leave you nor forsake you.

It can be hard to hold onto hope in this world. When a natural disaster hits and leaves people feeling lost and vulnerable, where is hope? When a loved one dies, where is hope? When a relationship dissipates after years of being close, where is hope? Hope is in the still small voice in the midst of the raging sea. It is in the thousands of memories that surround loved ones after their beloved is gone. It is in the acts of kindness when communities come together. It is in the words of the Father throughout the Bible that comfort those who feel afraid and alone.

Cling to hope when you feel lost and alone. Cling to it when situations seem impossible. Trust that God is always working for your good and knows the outcome. Hope is in the unknown. Hope is in the unthinkable. Hope is in Christ.

Hebrews 11:1 Describes faith as something that we cannot see but yet we still believe it is there. Love never loses faith. Even when it seems like it is impossible, love still believes. When everyone goes against you, Love still believes. When the world needs proof, love still believes. Through everything, love still believes.

What does this type of faith look like in everyday life? First of all, the only type of faith that lasts is godly faith. As people, we tend to put our faith in worldly faith things. We put all of our faith in people, hoping they will not fail us. We put our faith in material things, the next best device or clothing that will make us look a certain way. We put our faith in cars, hoping they will operate how they need to. We even put our faith in material things that remind us of someone. We see many examples of this in the Old Testament. For example, when Moses went on the mountain to talk with God, the Israelites ran to Aaron and asked him to create little gods that they could worship. When we look to the world for our hope, it can be easy to lose faith quickly.

There is nothing in this life that will last that is temporary. Only the eternal will last forever. We must put our hope, trust, and faith in the Lord, knowing that He will always carry us through. When we begin to lose sight, we must fix our eyes on Him once again. Praise God that the Israelites lack of faith in the wilderness was not the end of their story. God continued to love them and sent His Son Jesus to die for them. Not only them, but for every person who chooses to believe in Him!

Love does not give up. Through life’s toughest battles, it does not give up. The world tells you that if it is too hard, throw in the towel and try with someone else. We see famous relationships end after a short time together. Many Hollywood stars have been married multiple times. 1 Corinthians 13 says the opposite; do not give up. Trust that God can carry you through. There is nothing He can’t repair and rebuild if we allow Him to.

This doesn’t mean stay in a relationship that is riddled with sin, but it means that with God there is always hope. I knew a woman who once felt called to stay in her marriage even though her husband was addicted to pornography. He was ashamed and wanted out of his addiction, but he had allowed it to control his life. She knew that God had called her to be like Hosea and stay married and faithful, even though her husband was not. She had pledged her life to him and her children. She prayed on her knees for many years and began to watch God work and do miraculous things in her marriage. He freed her husband from the bondage of addiction and drew them close. Only He could bring that kind of healing and restoration.

This is not the testimony of every story and marriage, but no matter what, we can always rely on God. We do not have to give up on Him. Allow Him to work in your life and marriage, knowing that nothing is ever beyond His control.

1 Corinthians 13:6 tells us that, “It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.” God always rejoices with truth. Sin separates us from Him and has separated us since Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden and disobeyed God. They are in complete opposition to each other. The NLT uses the word “injustice” for sin while other versions use other synonyms such as wrongdoing (ESV) and iniquity (KJV). No matter what you call it, sin is sin and devastates our lives. It caused eternal separation from God and created a need for a sacrifice to bridge the gap from man to God.

We live in a world that does glorify sin and wrongdoing. It praises people for making lifestyle choices that go against God’s Word. It creates opportunities to take away life before it has even begun. Yet, other sins are wrong (according to their definition of wrong). The world operates without a moral compass making it very difficult to live in a society where everything seems backward- right is wrong and wrong is right. God destroyed cities and nations for that very thing in the Bible. Sodom and Gomorrah, anyone? For the Christian, the Bible is our moral compass. It defines right from wrong.

God’s love does not rejoice in sin, but rejoices in the truth! For marriages, this means that sinful acts, feelings, and desires are wrong in the eyes of the Lord, but truth heals and restores. God’s truth always brings about restoration. So no matter what you’ve been through, even if you were living in sin, there is always hope and forgiveness with the Lord.

True love keeps no record of wrongs. It is forgiving. It wipes away tears and offers a clean slate. The best picture of this kind of love is the love Christ had for us when He died on the cross. He did this knowing the depth of our sins and knowing that we were in need of forgiveness. No questions asked; He did it out of His love for us.

Imagine a life where someone followed you around everyday and wrote down every wrong thing you said or did. It would be miserable, right? Sometimes we act that way with those we love. Even when they are sorrowful, we still dig up the past and hold it over their heads. This often leads to divorce and broken relationships. I knew a lady who would come into my office everyday complaining about her ex-husband and tearing him apart. Everyday was a new grievance. She continuously recalled a nasty text she sent him or how he had failed once again. I don’t know the man; maybe he did all of those things, but all I could think about was how she is still hanging onto her records of wrongs all this time, years after their split. What a miserable life! Praise God that He is not that way with us! When He sacrificed His Son, there was no condition about it. His love and forgiveness covered our sins, wiped out our sins.

God would have every right to hold our sins over our heads. Every sin is a separation from God. However, that is not how He works. He operates with grace and mercy. He extends forgiveness over and over again. May we extend the same forgiveness that He gives us to those around us.

Have you ever been so frustrated with someone that you just exploded and let it all out? Maybe it happened before you even realized it. Maybe you exploded on someone who you love dearly. We tend to show more emotions toward the people we love more than anyone else. We may act one way toward our coworkers, church members, friends, and even strangers, and then act completely different toward our spouses, children, and close family members. Why do we do this when we know that God’s love doesn’t do this toward us?

We were created as humans with emotions. We feel everything: happiness, sadness, fear, anger, annoyance, frustration, etc. These emotions can be very difficult to control on our own. We need help so we don’t give in to the temptation of allowing these emotions to control us. We were also created with a longing to love and be loved. God gave us free will: the ability to choose Him. When we feel these extreme emotions, we can give them over to the Lord and ask Him for His help. Unbridled emotions can destroy marriages, relationships, and friendships. We must ask God for help maintaining control over these things. We are going to experience peace when we live in control over emotions.

It is easy to get irritated at others. However, giving into emotions like this only causes a spiral into a life of bitterness. God’s love forgives and is patient with others, wanting them to experience a life of love with the Lord. How can you show others that kind of love instead of bitterness and frustration? Allow Him to transform your thinking and be gracious with others.

Love is not self-seeking. It instead looks to the interests of others. It puts others before itself. Dictionary.com defines the word selfish as “devoted to or caring only for oneself; concerned primarily with one’s own interests, benefits, welfare, etc., regardless of others.” This is the message that the world tells us, isn’t it? “Look out for yourself.” “Do it yourself.” “Look to your own interests.” These are in direct contrast to what the Word of God says. He says to deny yourself and pick up your cross in Matthew 16:24. He also says to love your neighbor as yourself in Mark 12:31. Both of these completely contradict what society tells us about love.

We are a sinful people who struggle everyday with being selfless. We lie to protect ourselves and we try to control situations so we come out looking good. Sometimes we are not intentionally selfish, but we are so used to looking out for ourselves that we can not think any other way. When the world pushes us in that direction, it can be difficult to see any other way. We must retrain our brain to see the hearts and lives of others first. The first thing we can do is spend time in the Word with the Lord daily, reading about people in the Bible who were selfless. Look at Queen Esther who put her own life on the line for her people when they were in danger. In Esther 4:16 she even says, “If I perish, I perish.” The second thing we can do is pray for others- ask them exactly what they need. Keep a journal or a way to keep track of what is going on in others’ lives.

By doing these things, we can become a more selfless people who look to the interests of others instead of ourselves.