Self-Control When I Have None I’ve always thought it ironic that self-control was the last Fruit of the Spirit. Did Paul write it that way on purpose? In my life, by the time I repeat Galatians 5:22-23 (the Fruit of the Spirit verse), I usually have some self-control. I repeated this verse often as a stay-at-home-mommy with little kids. It …
Scriptures to Help You Keep Praying When You’ve Lost Hope
Sometimes it’s hard to keep praying. I know. A few years ago I was disenchanted with prayer. My heart was broken and weary. I was angry and confused. Grief stricken. My best friend, my only sister, lost a battle to cancer despite trillions of prayers and faith that could move mountains. “Why do we pray if it doesn’t make a …
What God Values (You)
Do you struggle with worth and value? It’s a terrible feeling. I think it’s one of the greatest lies of the enemy of our souls—the lie that we aren’t valuable. I’ve struggled with it for years, especially when I was a stay-at-home mom. The world values talent, beauty, money, and success, and if we don’t achieve these, we don’t feel …
When I Need Grace to Forgive Myself
Forgive or not to forgive, that’s the question. (But we know the answer is to forgive, right?) Last week I wrote about the grace God gave me to forgive someone who’d hurt me deeply. His grace took away the pain and empowered me to be genuinely kind and at peace with the situation. We also talked about it on our …
Obeying God When It’s hard
Sometimes it’s easy to follow God. But other times His leading may be unclear or hard to obey because it doesn’t seem to make sense to us. Obeying God can be difficult. I was always an obedient child. It wasn’t because I was GOOD. My obedience grew from another source, a desire to please. Yep, I’m a people- pleaser. My …