When you see the message of grace unfolding in the Bible a pattern emerges. God is gracious to us, and then expects us to respond.
Articles on The Christian Life
2675 results found
Why Your Parents' Limitations Aren’t Limiting
Limits force you to come to grips with both your humanity and your sin nature by showing you that you are not God, but you sure want to be.
Compromise on Marriage, Lose the Gospel
Who Created Marriage? We must not compromise on same-sex marriage. If we had invented marriage, we could reinvent it—there would be no problem with that. We could make it whatever we wanted it to be. …
Every hour I need you. Morning, noon, and night. Every minute and every second. Every breath. More than anything else in my life, motherhood has illuminated my need for God. You too?
Podcast: Are You Ashamed of Yourself? Jesus Isn't (Erik Raymond)
Erik Raymond talks about why nothing in our lives is a surprise to our Savior because Jesus’s heart is bent toward those who have an embarrassing history, feel far from God, or struggle with sin.
Why “Going Our Own Way” Is a Burden, Not a Freedom
We often hear the encouragement to go our own way or blaze our own trail. In a lot of ways, that sounds like freedom. But without Christ, it’s actually bondage.
Look at the Jesus of the Bible. Look at him. Don’t close your eyes and hope for a word of confirmation. Keep your eyes open and fill them with the full portrait of Jesus provided in the Bible.
How to Fight the Power of Shame
To fight the power of shame, you have to do what is most counterintuitive.
How Education Can Bring Renewal to the Church
When disciplined learning tells the Christian story in a fresh way, history has shown that vibrant expressions of faith result.
I’ve Heard It Said “Do What Makes You Happy”
It’s not wrong to want to be happy. Being happy is a good thing, and God is the creator of happiness. But we do have to think about where our happiness comes from.
It’s so unfair. Have you ever said that to God? Or even if you haven’t said it, did you think it? I know I have. I love the answer that Psalm 73 gives to this question of the fairness of God.
Opening Windows to Christ’s Kingdom
More than forty years have passed since I first traveled across the world and what drives me now are the glimpses of glory I get as I follow my King in the power of His rising.
Luke: A 10-Day Devotional Reading Plan
See how the Gospel of Luke presents Jesus as the promised King of kings, showcasing how Jesus’s earthly ministry is good news to the downtrodden, the hurting, and the outsider.
How Can Christians Claim Old Testament Promises as Their Own?
What we hope for tomorrow changes who we are today. If we truly believe that the pure in heart will see God, that’s going to influence what we look at and what we touch, because we want to see God.
Over the next 15 days, read through John’s first letter to the church alongside explanatory passages adapted from ESV Expository Commentary: Hebrews–Revelation (Volume 12).
Why Ordinary People Matter to God
One of the things that I love about the stories in the Bible is how many ordinary people you meet.
Body Image, Health Care, and the Incarnation
When God chose to come to the world embodied in Jesus Christ, he accepted life with all of its limitations.
Dear Christian, If Heaven Is Real, Then Your Life Isn’t Meaningless
Many people struggle with finding meaning in normal life because most people don’t have super exciting, glamorous lives.
Podcast: Recover the Lost Art of Bible Meditation in 2023 (David Mathis)
David Mathis talks about the spiritual discipline of meditating on Scripture and why it has the power to lead us to renewed excitement, joy, and satisfaction when it comes to God's word.
Lydia Brownback Discusses the Largely Undiscussed Topic of Loneliness
In this video, Justin Taylor sits down with Lydia Brownback to discuss her new book, Finding God in My Loneliness.
What Modern Atheists Could Learn from David Hume
One of the most important things that modern atheists can learn from David Hume is the limitations of sense perception and reason.
What someone shouldn’t immediately offer to the couple struggling with infertility is a set of solutions to the problem.
It happens sooner or later in every relationship: someone will let you down.
How to Respond to Hurtful Comments When You're Grieving
So you’re grieving and someone has said something to you that, instead of being helpful like they’d hoped it would be and like you would have wanted it to be, was actually hurtful. What are you going to do with that?
Don't Go through Life Overcome with Guilt
The Psalms give us language to pray to God when we are guilty and seeking forgiveness.
Now we follow Jesus far from home, but one great and glorious day we shall follow Jesus home.
Resisting the Power of Idolatry
One of the things that has really helped me understand the power of idolatry in our own time and place is, strange to say, the plagues in the book of Exodus.
This poignant account of a man’s ruin and restoration dramatically reveals a gospel story of God’s mercy toward those who have stood against him.
Excellent Revelations through Ordinary Means
As was typical among the Puritans, the Lord’s Supper is seen not simply as a memory aid, but an occasion in which Christ is present among his people through the Holy Spirit.
The root of idolatry is pride.