Where God's Word Meets Our Mess
I realize “There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back” by Shawn Mendes is almost 10 years old, but its message feels timeless in a sense. It’s one of many secular songs about coloring outside the lines. This song is certainly catchy, but it has some questionable lyrics that will hopefully hold you back from adding it to your playlist.
True confession—it’s difficult to not covet my friends’ marriages. Even though I know coveting is a sin, I succumb to this temptation far too often. God’s Word is clear about not coveting what other people have, but how can we avoid it?
Your boyfriend has never said anything like that before. He’s always respected your physical boundaries. In fact, you were confident he shared your convictions about saving sex for marriage—which is exactly why you don’t know how to respond to his statement. But you're tempted to say yes.
Today's post was written by author Barb Winters, whose book Sexpectations: Helping the Next Generation Navigate Healthy Relationships was published earlier this year. In addition to being an author, Barb is also a speaker, certified Sexual Risk Avoidance Specialist, certified mental health coach, and founder of Hopeful Mom: Supporting Parents in an Online World. Her experience helping her son overcome a pornography addiction will give you hope if you're struggling with a porn addiction—or honestly any addiction—that you desire to be free from.
I usually don’t introduce my posts with Bible verses. However, I read this passage from John 5 recently, and it really got my attention. Even though I think Jesus was directing these words at nonbelievers, verse 45 in particular hit my heart with a heavy thud and convicted me of several serious sins in my life.
Sometimes, we read Scripture and wonder what we're supposed to learn by reading it. But other times, God gives us a lightbulb moment. And last week, God turned the lightbulb on in my mind. The Scripture passage about our spirit being willing but our flesh being weak (from Matthew 26) finally made sense to me.
Think about the "worst" sins that you’ve committed and how you tried to handle them. Did you obsess about them? Did you worry about overcoming them? Did you keep giving into temptation? Did you deal with them in ways that hurt your relationships with God and others? Unfortunately, when we give in to sin, we usually proceed in a variety of unhealthy ways.
Normally, my focus during church worship services isn't actually worship. But why do I struggle to focus? Why can't I ponder the words that I'm singing? Am I the only one who has trouble concentrating on God?
I simply ignore all logical reasoning when a bowl of cookie dough is before me. Unfortunately, many Christians are the same way. Most of us rarely resist temptation. We give up, give in, suffer the consequences, and do it all over again.
Tizzie's Tidbits of Truth 