Have you ever fallen into the trap of the Scarlett O’Hara syndrome? I have observed many people adopting it as a coping strategy. It seems highly favored by us. It certainly feels evident and right at the moment of pain or pressure. For me it was a pattern that began early in childhood. Here is an excerpt that describes it from the book I wrote a few years back. See if you can relate: There were shadowy sides to me that I preferred…
Suppose the Lord were giving you a report card each day. Suppose you don’t have to wait until the Final Day to read the report… Consider life from a teacher’s perspective: 1) Why do teachers give tests? So they can see how well the students are doing. The student’s grade gives them a “grade” on how well they are doing as teachers and where they need to focus more effort. 2) Why do teachers grade those same tests and return…
Is this you? (It was me.) I meet many Christians who believe that God forgives them, but who really can’t forgive themselves. We padlock our own hearts with unrelieved blame and regret. It doesn’t have to be this way! In my experience we find it hardest to forgive ourselves over two kinds of sins: a) if we have deeply hurt someone we truly loved, or b) if we have wrecked our own life path with no visible means of remedy.…
We live in a real world that is also a moral and spiritual universe. Every thought, word and deed whether good or bad, right or wrong, intended or unintended, has consequences in our lives and in the lives that surround us. Blessings—the positive consequences—abound whenever we consciously or unconsciously “do the right thing.” The “curse of the law”—the negative consequences—arrive when we depart from God’s way or God’s truth (Deuteronomy 27-28).