Category: Faith in the Struggle

Covid Rage and Resentments

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Ephesians 4:31 Though I can argue and debate, with Covid-19, I’ve grown quite weary of it. There was a time though, a few months back, when it seemed everyone wanted to fight about the topic.…
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Can I Move God?

Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Ephesians 4:30 If you’d have asked me 15 years ago what was most important to me, I’d have told you my wife and children were my top priorities. I honestly believed those were the most important people…
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Naughty Words

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. Ephesians 4:29 As Christians, we know we’re supposed to do good things. We know we’re supposed to love God, obey him, and love our…
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How Would You Like to Make $500 an Hour?

Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Ephesians 4:28 Once in jail, I met a man who explained his moral dilemma. When he was out, he knew he could get a regular…
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Be Kind

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:32 There are places and situations that evoke certain emotional and behavioral responses in me. At the gym, I’m competitive. At work, I try to be professional. In a political discussion, I’m antagonistic. Today though, is Christmas, and all…
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Making Me Do and Say Terrible Things

Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Ephesians 4:26-27 Over the years, I’ve met countless patients who’ve caused themselves and others significant injuries while intoxicated. Under normal circumstances, they would never get into fights or drive into oncoming traffic,…
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Poisoned By the Lies

Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Ephesians 4:25 The other day, I heard about an old acquaintance who’d gotten sober and was doing well. I’d not seen him for a couple years, but in the time I knew…
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It’s a Part of Me

Put off your old self . . . and put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Ephesians 4:22-24 When we bought our home, almost 10 years ago, there was a coil of trimming line hung on one of the broken-off branches of a tree in the…
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The Calluses on My Conscience

You must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice…
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Like a Kidney Stone

. . . We are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. Ephesians…
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