Regarding other people, our problem is that we need them (for ourselves) more than we love them (for the glory of God).
People who have experienced war have learned to accept the trials and sufferings of life. Among many wise, older citizens in American society, there is no desperate flight from suffering. Instead, the...
Part of the depressive syndrome is that you are immensely loyal to your interpretation of yourself and your world. If God says you are forgiven in Christ, you create new rules that mandate contrition,...
On earth, however, God doesn’t prescribe a happy life. Look at some of the Psalms. They are written by people of great faith, yet they run the emotional gamut. One even ends with darkness is my closes...
Now listen more carefully to depression. Like all feelings, it is a kind of language. Guilt says, I am wrong. Anger says, You are wrong. Fear says, I am in danger. Depression, too, has a message, but...
Love breaks the hold of individualism; it builds new communities out of the ashes of broken and fragmented relationships.
Knowing God without knowing our own wretchedness makes for pride. Knowing our own wretchedness without knowing God makes for despair. Knowing Jesus Christ strikes the balance because he shows us both...
Jesus always interpreted hardship in light of the end of the story, and at the end of the story we will be without shame.
If you know you have been forgiven, you will forgive and reconcile with others.
Here is what we know and where we are going. First, shame is blended into our present human condition. That doesn’t mean that happiness and joy only come at the cost of massive denial. No, there can b...
Here is the rule: the way you live reveals what you really think about God,
Here are some key words to go along with shame: Inferior Alienated Embarrassed Minority Ridiculed Weak Powerless Failure Different Insulted Rejected Inadequate Humiliated Ignored Loser
God's love is a costly love. It never takes the easy path away from relationships. Instead, it plots how to move towards other people. It thinks creatively of ways to surprise them with love.
But the point is that we live in a culture that idolizes happiness, and if we idolize happiness, it will always elude us.
Beneath our questions about God’s generosity and his care for our needs is something darker. What we really care about is our wants.
9:10). Since the fear of the Lord is the great treasure of life, Proverbs tries to woo us to it. It tries to make the fear of the Lord as attractive as possible. Those who fear the Lord will fear noth...
What is shame?The Son of God, while on a rescue mission of love, was misunderstood insulted betrayed denied ...
With this? Do you live as if this is true? Let’s keep going. The Bible isn’t just about heaven and only for the by-and-by. It is gritty and real. It is about messed-up people and the way God pursues t...
There is an important difference between embarrassment and shame. Whatever caused your embarrassment has been experienced by everyone else too, at one point or another. Your sense of social isolation...
The desire is overwhelming. Why? Because there is availability without accountability.