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I wonder if loving someone who is loving us is even love at all. Maybe it’s just an even exchange. Doesn’t cost anyone anything. The most loved I have ever felt by @tammieavaughan are the times she has loved me in my selfishness. That’s when I know she really loves me. Our greatest opportunity to grow stronger is when we are under a strain. The greatest opportunity you ever have to grow closer to God is when you love through hurt. If you want the power of God in your life, get busy loving God an …

If we believe we are better than other people we may be in the most danger. Fear’s trap is to lead us to believe we are less valuable than others so we will then strive to be more valuable than others. The truth sets us free, and that truth is realizing we are no more or less valuable than anyone else, that our decisions do matter, and that no one can earn the love of God. Ephesians 2:8-10,”For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of G …

Offense is a trap! It’s a trap that wants to lead us to a fear led life. When we feel offended, it should lead us to first look within ourself and then seek the truth. If we are easily offended then we no longer live in control of our own life, but instead give control of our life and our peace to the fearful among us. Love is not easily offended....fear is. This does not mean that if people intentionally hurt us we should be ok with it. It certainly doesn’t mean if someone will physically harm …

Loving someone so they will love us is not love it’s manipulation. Loving someone whether they love us or not is love. Love is not a feeling, it’s a decision to do what is truly best for others without regard for ourself. The feeling of love is the fruit of love not love itself. Daniel 3:14-25,”King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and He will deliver us from Yo …

Just for clarity -God is love! There is no love without Him. Whether we are the offender or the offended, this is why we all must first run to Jesus. Then as we connect to Him, we become grafted into the vine (Jesus). Then love flows through us, and as love flows through us we forgive, we repent, we love, and loving restores what was taken away. I try to illustrate this with trees and roots and fruit visually in “The Right Fight.” We have all been hurt and we have all hurt someone. Jesus is the …

“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get. But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner. I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home just …

Gratefulness is a choice. If we are not grateful for little, we won’t be grateful for much either. My wife @tammieavaughan is one of the most grateful people I have ever met. When we were dating, nothing got her more excited then going to Circle K (she called it K’s) for a pack of Little Debbie blueberry muffins and a cherry Slurpee! To this day she gets soooo excited over school supplies like pens and paper for home school, and sometimes I drive 50 miles one way to get her a Big Red Icee at Buc …

The trap is selfishness, the bait is offense, and the only way out is love. Love seeks the truth and sees life inside out. Fear sees life outside in. All fear cares about is what you do and how it makes it feel. Love also has feelings, but it stops and considers why you did what you did. It seeks truth and refuses to let offense lead it to be defensive. Fear is either the plaintiff or the defendant. Love sits on the jury of its own life. Luke 6:35, “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, …

In the name of love our children are being led to their own suffering. It’s not love to demand respect. Love doesn’t expect anything from anyone but itself. Love puts itself last not first, and it does not demand its own way. Fear does all of that. Love’s worst enemy in our lives is our own feelings. Don’t follow your feelings, they will lead you astray. Love seeks the truth at all cost. The truth is often hidden, but it’s never hard to find. If we look at the truth and willingly ignore it, we a …

Just out living our suffering doesn’t ensure we grow stronger for it. How we move through it determines if we grow stronger or not. Loving through our suffering means still doing what is “truly” best for others without regard for ourself. Loving when we are suffering is extremely difficult. Suffering makes a five pound weight a hundred and five pound weight, but fighting to lift a heavier weight is what makes us stronger. When we keep fighting to live a loving life even in our suffering, then Go …