February 2021

We’ve considered 3 points of emphasis in Luke 17:3: the seriousness of sin, the responsibility of helping a sinning brother recognize his guilt, and the importance of repentance. A fourth emphasis in this passage is that Christians must be ready to forgive. Reminding ourselves of our own weakness helps keep us ready to forgive. We […]

In Luke 17:3-4, Christ instructs his disciples, “’If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, “I repent,” you must forgive him.’” The previous reflection cautioned against assuming someone is wrong before determining the

Nobody is impressed by obvious hypocrisy. In Matthew 6, Christ condemned hypocritical actions of the Pharisees which were outward shows of righteousness with self-centered motivations: public announcements of personal gifts to the needy, grand public prayers, purposeful public gloominess so that all would know they were fasting, accumulation of wealth so that others would think

The last reflection looked at Ephesians 4 and the encouragement to be gracious and eliminate unity-destroying sin from our lives. The very next verses follow this up with instruction to, “Be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and

Conflict—drama—resentment—apologies—forgiveness: Life can be messy, but God’s Word provides answers. Varied situations make for many angles to these topics, and the next few reflections will touch on some of these. Ephesians 4 begins with the following encouragement from Paul: “Walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all