If we’re dead to sin, if sin isn’t our master, how do we live that out? Living as a slave to sin takes no initiative on our part. What does it look like to live without sin as master over our mouths, our eyes, our minds, our insecurities, our appetites?
We all want to do what’s right all the time, but we sometimes we end up doing what we don’t want to do. It seems unavoidable. If we can’t even live by our own standards, how are we supposed to live by God’s?
It’s difficult to solve a problem when you don’t understand what’s wrong to begin with. Many of us have been trying to solve the problem of “us” for a long time. Some of you have lost friends, family, or jobs because you couldn’t solve you. Some of you have paid someone good money to solve you. But what if the real problem is that you don’t know what the problem is?
All of us have been impacted by divorce, either our own or someone very close to us. It is most often painful and messy to the level of our soul. It’s an indication that what Jesus said was true, but what exactly did he say and how should it impact our view of divorce and remarriage?
Paul commands us to enjoy what God has provided and to be rich, but what does being rich look like?
Jesus taught that there is a way to use money that creates a joy and reward that reaches beyond this life. But there is also a part of His teaching that seems a little ominous, and it is something we need to know.
Perspective is everything. How we “see” areas of our lives will determine our behavior and how much stress or joy we feel. This is especially true with how we see money. Maybe if we got a new perspective on who actually owns the money, it would change how we see it, use it and feel about it.
Comparison is being caught in the trap of constantly asking, “Does she have more than me? Are they better off? Is he smarter, funnier, richer?” We preoccupy ourselves with these questions, but God has a better plan…and a better question…a question that will free us from the comparison trap once and for all.
God is the creator of the universe. He’s big, smart and powerful. He orchestrates time and everything that happens in it. And he has told us to call him…Dad? God’s opinion of us may provide something we haven’t yet found comparing ourselves to others.
We’ve all heard of a win-win outcome. Yet, we are daily engaging in a lose-lose activity, and we may not even realize how destructive it is. Being rich-er or smart-er or funny-er may feel like a short-term win, but for ourselves, our families, and our marriages, comparison is a game with no winners.
