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I used to fight to forgive myself, but then I thought about how I feel about the person that hurt me forgiving themselves, and nothing about that made sense. The truth is, we have no power to forgive ourselves. The only power we have is to repent and forgive others. The beauty and the miracle is that God forgives us. Then our responsibility becomes accepting His forgiveness so we can move forward living a loving life. So His forgiveness in our lives is not in vain, and so His sacrifice on the cr …

When I became totally convinced that the truth was best for me and those I loved the most....then criticism became my best friend. It still hurts my feelings, and maybe it always will. I must say though, not nearly as much as it once did. Not so much anymore, because the change it has brought to my own life has blessed me so much, I find myself desiring criticism. I desire it so I can be challenged, and so I can get other perspectives and be shown my own blind spots. In the past, the moment I re …

Loving someone who won’t love us is always painful. Actually, anyone not loving us is painful. We can pretend we don’t care, but that is just a fearful response to the fact we do care. Whatever you do, don’t harden your heart. That’s the trap of hurt. Loving heals us from hurt. When we harden our own hearts, we prevent healing and live a life trapped by the hurt we are trying to avoid. If someone not loving you hurts then thank God. It means you’re whole and you’re what God made you to be. Have …

Missing God doesn’t derail our life. Because of Jesus, repentance can have us right back on track quickly. It may take us longer to get there from where we are, and it may be a harder road to travel, but God will use it all for our good if we love Him and are willing to change directions. The only thing that can derail us for the long haul is an unwillingness to repent and a decision to put ourself first at all cost. That decision will keep us on a path away from God until we repent. II Corinthi …

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 …

“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 …

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 …