Ready for work, dressed, teeth brushed, hair done, lunch packed – Checklists! Be they mental habits or studiously marked on an app, checklists keep us from becoming the common fool. Scripture is filled with lists to keep our souls from common sins. Titus 3:1-2 has a brief checklist of godliness
A better wisdom
Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down
“I am just so angry at _______”
Anger towards others can take many forms. It might be a smouldering resentment. It might be a passionate rage. It might be deep-seated hostility. It might express itself in unplanned shouting or carefully planned verbal stabs. Either way, whatever form of anger you have against another, it is no secret
Peace: fake it, break it, or make it
Ken Sande, in his book The Peacemaker, groups all our different responses to conflict into the categories of peace-faking, peace-breaking, and peace-making. These are helpful ways to analyse your own contributions to the lack of peace in your relationships. Faking peace includes responses like acting as though everything is fine,
Strengthening a weak relationship
Although the book of Proverbs has dozens of very practical ways to build and strengthen a relationship that is broken and weak, it is a the book of Ephesians that has a a little catch-phrase that proves incredibly helpful in thinking about how to strengthen a weak relationship. In a