Search for “spiritual disciplines” and you will come up with lists ranging from a few practices to giant, enormous, book-length lists.

You’ll hear people talk about prayer, Bible reading, silence, fasting, solitude, fellowship, and a bunch of others.

It can be kind of overwhelming, right?

I’m not sure where the phrase “spiritual disciplines” originated. The Greek word in the New Testament usually translated “discipline” is paideia, which is used for “the rearing of a child, training, discipline” (Strong’s Greek), and as far as I know, does not apply to what we call “spiritual disciplines.”

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Moms and dads, do you feel like your children’s salvation is up to you?

One of the incredible results of Jesus’ resurrection is that God makes believers into completely brand new creations. The Bible says we are completely new creations – we aren’t simply reformed or refurbished. We’re brand new. We aren’t just the same old people who have now made resolutions to change or improve. It’s not like Jesus bought an old piece of beat up dirty furniture in a junkyard, washed it off, and is now beginning to sand it and polish it up.

I once heard someone encourage giving to a charity say, “Remember, never give to receive; give to give.” That’s it? Give to give? Somehow that doesn’t motivate me much. To me, that sounds like, “Remember, never go to work and expect a paycheck. Just work to work.” Is this what God says about giving?

We all face temptations of many kinds. God wants us to beat them. We don’t have to sin, as powerful as temptations feel. Here are 8 ways to gain the victory.

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jer 29:11

This quote was part of a letter God had Jeremiah write to the Jews whom Nebuchadnezzar had been taken captive to Babylon from Jerusalem. They had been ripped from their homeland, taken to a land where they were aliens and strangers. I can’t imagine how hopeless they felt.

All of us can experience many feelings in a single day.

We can feel depressed or sad or angry or lonely. We can feel happy and hopeful. We can be cheerful one moment then suddenly annoyed at that old guy driving way too slow in front of us. We can feel like we love someone one moment, then frustrated at them a moment later. We can feel optimistic or hopeless.

Some of us wear our feelings on our sleeve. Some of us, like me, don’t want others to know when we’re feeling down or discouraged. Sometimes our feelings seem uncontrollable – “I couldn’t help getting angry with that idiot!”

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Outwardly they honored God. But they had no love for God. Their hearts – their inner persons – were impure – they acted religious to be noticed by men, not to please God.

Our culture constantly tells us to build our self-esteem and think highly of ourselves. Yet the Bible urges us to do the opposite. To pursue humility. It’s actually a glorious pursuit.

I don’t know about you, but I can be easily distracted when I’m praying. But over the years I’ve picked up some great ways to focus my prayers.

Many of us face difficult and life-changing decisions. We can be grateful for God’s incredible promise in Psalm 32:8.

I’ve been doing a good bit of premarital counseling lately, and I’ve married quite a few folks over the years. There’s lots of great advice in the Bible and other books, but here are 4 pieces of advice that have really helped me throughout my marriage. I’m still trying to apply them, and I’d encourage you to as well, whether you’re getting married in 2 weeks or celebrating your 20th anniversary.

In this fallen world, conflict is inevitable. Husbands and wives, parents and children/teens/adult kids, roommates, co-workers, brothers and sisters in Christ, believers and non-believers—we all sin against each other at times—at times intentionally but many times unintentionally. We have misunderstandings, fail to keep promises, do things that annoy or even hurt others. Sometimes we can overlook others’ sins. At other times we must address them. Sometimes we are the ones who are confronted.

Here are 6 questions I have found helpful to ask myself when I find myself in conflict:

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But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:4-5)

Satan can’t force us to sin. So he tries the next best thing – to get us to doubt God’s word and character.

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