Mary Southerland

For marriage to be what God designed it to be, we must choose to be committed to our mate and our marriage. Commitment is not based on feelings. Feelings cannot build a solid marriage. Love is not the basis for marriage. Marriage is the basis for love.

Good parents want to say yes and bless their kids. But, good parents also want to see their kids ask for, want, and seek the right things. When I make my plan to make my life better – God laughs. When I seek God's plan to improve my life, God says yes. And he partners with me.

God wants us to love each other in the same way that He loves – unconditionally. In fact, God wants us to love in such a way that the people around us will know we are fully devoted followers of Christ.

We not only have to receive grace, but we've got to rehearse grace because we quickly default back to a perverted vision of what grace is. We don't fully realize what grace is, so we have to rehearse it. Grace is not natural to us. I don't know about you, but I default back to merited favor.

We often play the same game with God. We half-heartedly seek Him, but the good news is that God loves to be found. This truth is beautifully illustrated by a woman found in Luke.

We have two choices when we are experiencing worry and anxiety. We can carry it alone or cast it on Jesus and share it. Toddlers carry all their anxiety alone and try to do it themselves. Mature Christ followers share the burden. Cast your burden on Jesus. Share your burden with others. And get ready for your load to lighten.

I spent two years at the bottom of a pit called clinical depression. The people of the church helped me climb out of that pit. God's Word tells us how we can help the depressed, but the church's people put God's healing plan into action. Here are seven ways the church can help people like me who battle depression.

When God makes a plan, God also makes a way. That is who our Father is. That is what our Father does. We can look back at moments of crisis and pain and see how God showed up. So let's take this one step further.

And because this is a practice, it will feel clunky and impossible when you first start. And you will make excuses as to why this may work for others but will never work for you. Then, you will try it and say it doesn’t work, because some days it doesn’t. But I promise you; it is a practice that reveals its benefits over time.

The most important thing about prayer is that we pray!