"Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." – Romans 12:21Our natural instinct, apart from Christ, is to seek justice or even revenge when we've been wronged. I'm reminded of a story about a man who served as an umpire for recreational baseball games in his spare time. One summer, he was driving too fast and got pulled over by a police officer. He tried desperately to come up with e...

"Do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ with partiality." – James 2:1There was a young lady from a poorer neighborhood who attended this well-to-do church, a wealthy congregation. When she approached the pastor about joining, he wasn't sure if she would be received well. So he said, "I tell you what, go home and read your Bible every single day, and then at the end of the week you come bac...

"Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all." – 1 Thessalonians 5:14Sometimes, what appears to be rudeness, inconsideration, or even malice may actually be the result of pain we know nothing about. Stephen Covey shared a story about being in a subway car where all the adults were quietly reading newspapers. Suddenly, a man...

"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." – Matthew 5:7Have you ever tried merging onto a highway in heavy traffic? You're on the on-ramp, traffic is heavy, and your road is going away. You've got to merge onto the highway, but no one is letting you in. You're trying, but you're about to run out of road. So what do you do? You squeeze your car onto that highway, and next thing you k...

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled." (Matthew 5:6, NKJV)There's something uniquely powerful about the promises of Jesus. Unlike human promises that often come with fine print or conditional clauses, Jesus makes absolute statements. And here in the fourth beatitude, He offers a guarantee that should capture our attention: "they shall be filled."Not ...