We’ll never get what we really want until we discover what is most valuable. But choosing what’s valuable isn’t natural. We’ve all had the experience of getting what we naturally want, only to discover it's not what we ultimately want. But how do we avoid sabotaging ourselves by our short-term desires?
Have you ever wanted something, got it and then regretted it later? Maybe it wasn’t a something, but a someone. Getting what we want can be tricky . . . and even dangerous. It usually leaves us wanting more. If what we want leads to a cycle of wanting more and more, maybe we want the wrong things.
Happy couples decide they owe each other everything but are owed nothing in return. But that requires effort. Every married person makes a choice every day. That choice feels more like a reaction, so most people don’t think they have a choice at all. But they do.
As long as you think your spouse owes you, your marriage will be all about keeping score. That destroys intimacy. It destroys love. But what are we supposed to do about our hopes, dreams, and desires?
We all enter into marriage with hopes, dreams, and desires. They create expectations. But when you put those expectations onto your spouse, it turns your marriage into a debt/debtor relationship. Your relationship becomes marked by the belief that your spouse owes you something. So, how do you keep your hopes, dreams, and desires from becoming expectations?
A great relationship doesn’t happen by accident. It requires investment, care and regular maintenance. But sometimes we don’t want to make the effort. As long as it’s not broken, do we really need to talk about it?
If you have ever volunteered to do something for which you felt totally unqualified, then you already know what an experience like that can do for your faith. One of the primary ways God grows our faith is through personal ministry.
Life is full of surprises—some good, some not so good. But each unexpected event that comes our way is actually a divine opportunity.
If you are like most people, you can't tell your life story without referencing people who played significant roles along the way. The same is true of your faith story. Providential relationships play a big role in the development of our faith.
What role do private spiritual disciplines play in the development of our faith? Drawing from Jesus' teaching, we see how God leverages systematic prayer and generosity to grow our confidence in him.
