rebelling against low expectations
What do you want to accomplish in your lifetime? Pause for a moment and think it through. Maybe you thought, “Not that much,” or “I want to do a lot, but I don’t think I’ll actually be able to.” Very few will confidently think, “I’m going to do great things.” While we need to cultivate humility, and while we should seek to be openhanded with...
What is your identity? Are you a soccer player, a student, a sibling? Maybe you’re a writer, a daughter, or a friend? Somewhere in the process of defining our identity, most of us would answer that we are a child of God. This is the most important part of our identity, yet we often don’t grasp the full power of that label. All our other labels will fade away—one day, we will no longer play sports...
There are so many sources of worry and anxiety in our lives –auditions, interviews, school, sports games, moving, and more. Chances are, when things make your life harder, making you worried or sad, you go to your friends or family to talk about it with them. I completely understand your reasoning for this. I mean, my friends are often in the same situation as me, so they’re the ones who can...
“You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.” – Exodus 20:7 Most people interpret the third commandment as “don’t use God’s name as a cuss word.” But “taking the Lord’s name in vain” refers to any use that is irreverent or “empty,” if you look at the original Hebrew. With this in mind, consider the widespread...
Mining can be hard work. It can also be immensely rewarding. And unlike physical mining, where a vein can be depleted or not have much in it, Scripture will always have more gems to unearth. We never have to wonder whether we dig in vain, especially if we know where and how to look. Over the past three posts, I’ve provided tools specific to the three steps of mining. But before we conclude this...
Knowledge is a great place to start in uncovering the gems of Scripture, but knowledge alone isn’t particularly helpful. Alone, it tends to cause us to feel smart, which can lead to arrogance or pride. Rather, we need to sift through the dirt to find the gems of understanding. So here we move from knowing the facts of the passage to comprehending what those facts actually mean. You may know that...
The Bible can be a little daunting to study. First, there’s all those pages, well into the hundreds in many versions. Then you have those unpronounceable names that seem to come from the latest fantasy novel. And have you read some of the stuff this book contains? Wheels covered in eyes (Ezekiel 10:12). Belly fat oozing over sword hilts (Judges 3:22). Prophets walking around naked (Isaiah 20:2-4)...
Gen Z is facing an unprecedented identity crisis. Every time I ask a youth pastor or Christian leader what they think is the biggest struggle teens are facing today, the answer is the same: identity. I’ve observed this myself. Teens are struggling to know who they are and if they matter. I hear their questions and as an early-twenties Gen Z, I can relate. Who am I? What determines my identity...
It can be very easy to stay stuck in the past especially when a past season has been very difficult. From my personal experience, I know the struggle is real. When I was in the middle of a dark time in my life, the Lord spoke to me from the song Out of Hiding by Steffany Gretzinger. I woke up one morning hearing the lyric, “Oh, as you run, what hindered love will only become part of the story.”...
My family and I were headed to an American Heritage Girls’ scouting camp out for my younger sisters. As we were driving, I scrolled through Instagram. A coworker (who is the same age as me) posted pictures of her and her husband vacationing in Nashville. It looked like they were having a great time! As my family drove through the desert, my thoughts wandered to my dear friend who I’d been...
rebelling against low expectations
