“Oh, he reads godly books now.” Said with just enough of a smirk that you’re not supposed to notice it landed. Living your faith out loud costs you something — sometimes people, sometimes comfort. Here’s what I’ve learned about staying Christlike through it.
You can know every verse, say all the right words, and show up every Sunday and still never answer the one question that actually matters. Have I truly surrendered to Jesus? This is not about fear and it is not about pointing fingers. I am asking myself first.
I can see something ugly brewing right now and everything in me wants to react. But before I do anything, I had to stop and ask one question most people never think to ask — who started this? Because whether it is God, Satan, or your own flesh behind what you are watching, the answer changes everything about what you are supposed to do next.
I was twelve years old the day I lost my father. I did not understand everything that happened, but I knew life had changed forever. This is the story of that day, the grief that followed, and the God I can now see was there even when I could not feel Him.
My father was my coach, my best friend, and my hero. I didn’t have him long enough, but what he planted in me never left.
Faith was never meant to stay inside a church building. Real faith follows us into the waiting, the struggle, the anger, the grief, the temptation, and the slow healing.
Prayer is not a last resort. It is a connection. When you do not know what to say, God is still listening, and you do not have to have it all figured out to pray.
Sometimes the slowdown is not the setback we think it is. Maybe God is not holding us back. Maybe He is holding us together.
Sometimes the struggle does not disappear as quickly as we prayed it would. But that does not mean God is absent. He may be working in the middle of it.
Sometimes being right can make us blind to what is happening in our own heart. This post looks at pride, truth, humility, and why a clean heart matters more than winning the argument.