By Show perfect courtesy toward all people – God Our parents used to teach us to be polite, have good manners, and respect others. We were told not to be rude, selfish, or disrespectful. These things all describe our attitudes and behaviour towards others. These are difficult things to instill in children or perfect as adults, because they
Marriage: Specialised Friendship
The world teaches you to look out for yourself, Look out for #1—take selfies that make you look good, choose friends who make you happy, drive cars that make you feel successful—that’s the world’s way. But marriage was designed to specialise friendship. Marriage is designed to overcome the self-seeking, self-esteem,
The One Earthly Thing Not Destroyed by the Curse
Ecclesiastes bemoans the miserable conditions of earthly life (Eccl 1:2 et al.). Ever since sin entered the world in Genesis 3, the Creation groans, longing for better days (Rom 8:21-22), days like those in the Garden of Eden in Genesis 1 and 2. Those were the days before everything was destroyed by the curse. Those
I Need a Good Friend and You Need Me to Be a Good Friend
We are simply too selfish (Pro 18:1), too limited in understanding (Pro 18:2), and too foolish (Pro 12:15) to think we can go through life without some serious input from some good friends. The first obvious benefit of having some good friends is spiritual growth. Just like your physical body doesn’t
My God Knows Me
Psalm 139 is another all-time favourite Psalm of many a believer. It is a grand testimony to our God Who is unreachably beyond human limitation and yet intimately engaged with us. It begins and ends with God’s knowledge of us. Our God has known us (v. 1), and we delightedly pray
A Clear Conscience after a Day with Unbelievers
Is it possible to have a clear conscience after every interaction that you have with unbelievers? What about the ones who demonstrated their sinful side to you today? What about the ones who did you harm today? What about the ones who were short-tempered, incompetent, and unfriendly today? Is it
Peace: Fake it, Break it, or Make It
Ken Sande, in his book The Peacemaker, groups all our different responses to conflict into the categories of peace-faking, peace-breaking, and peace-making. These are helpful ways to analyse your own contributions to the lack of peace in your relationships. Faking peace includes responses like acting as though everything is fine, blaming others
The Simplest Way to Handle Complex Situations
“Get back to the main two or three commandments for your situation”. That is the counsel we so often need. The difficult situations we face each day, and sometimes for years on end, are so complex, that we exhaust ourselves trying to handle it all. Often all our trying contributes
Strengthening a Weak Relationship
Although the book of Proverbs has dozens of very practical ways to build and strengthen a relationship that is broken and weak, it is a the book of Ephesians that has a a little catch-phrase that proves incredibly helpful in thinking about how to strengthen a weak relationship. In a
Best Friend, Bad Friend, Hostile Friend, Re-Friend
You can probably relate to some degree. You had a friend. Yes, had, for he is no longer really a friend. You had a friend—a best friend perhaps. But then something went wrong. It might have been a very clear and memorable moment where some great offence was caused, or it might be