Category: Level: Beginner

As unbelievers we may have tried to rationalize away our actions as not being wrong because if we admitted our wrongs then it would mean that our actions were not justified and so we would have to view ourselves as guilty. And in our minds guilt naturally required devaluation of someone as well as some sentence of judgment. This is why the great majority of unbelievers in the public eye present justifications for their actions. They do not want to admit that their actions are corrupt; they want to believe that they are justified and they want others to view them as justified. But we are free from all this. We are not afraid of honest guilt because guilt does not lead to devaluation, rejection or a sentence of judgment. Through faith in Christ, God justified us (accepts us) and adopted us as his children. The justification issue in our Continue Reading →

I confess anxiety about discussing the topic of eating. People easily feel condemned or embrace self-rejection, but we should be motivated to healthy eating by love for God and others. During the holiday season we are especially tempted to unhealthy eating. God cares about our bodies and wants us to take good care of them. He loves the physical world he created and the human body is the marvelous pinnacle of his material creation. When we eat too much and become overweight then we are harming our God-given bodies. The same goes for the habit of eating unhealthy food. You can find endless studies about the negative health effects of being overweight or eating unhealthy including heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and an increased probability of neurological disease. Being overweight is also hard on the bodies’ joints and hinders needed exercise. Proverbs warns against gluttony (overeating): “A companion of gluttons shames Continue Reading →

An important element of holiness is being careful about what we expose ourselves to. This includes what we view, hear, and read. This post takes a closer look at the environments to which we subject ourselves. Viewing and Listening. In the modern world we are constantly bombarded by ungodly images and words. Sex, violence, and materialism seem to be the most popular topics. Images are especially intrusive as they often linger in our memory. It is easy to become complacent or negligent about what we allow our eyes to see, but when we voluntarily and unnecessarily expose ourselves to ungodly images we are affecting our Spiritual life. They make an impression on our soul that conflicts with the indwelling Holy Spirit. The voluntary presence of the image produces a place in our soul that is temporarily out of harmony with God; we have allowed something unclean into the temple of Continue Reading →