Topic > Spiritual Growth
Ordinary People
Gideon was an ordinary person. His story, recorded in Judges 6, inspires me. He was a farmer, and a timid one at that. When God called him to deliver Israel from the Midianites, Gideon’s initial response was “How can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house” (Judg. 6:15). God promised that He would be with Gideon and that he would be able to accomplish what he had been asked to do (v. 16). Gideon’s obedience brought victory to Israel, and he is listed as one of the…
The Cyrus Cylinder
In 1879, archaeologists discovered a remarkable little item in an area now known as Iraq (biblical Babylon). Just 9 inches long, the Cyrus Cylinder records something that King Cyrus of Persia did 2,500 years ago. It says that Cyrus allowed a group of people to return to their homeland and rebuild their “holy cities.”
It’s the same story told in Ezra 1. There we read that “the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia” to make a proclamation (v. 1). And in that proclamation, Cyrus said he was releasing the captives in Babylon to go home to Jerusalem,…
A Letter To My Future Self
Dear Future Self, Hey! Hello there! Howdy doo! Yes, I need to remind you that you are still weird—that’s my obligation as your past. You are welcome.
Fiery Conversation
Where I come from in northern Ghana, bush fires are regular occurrences in the dry season between December and March. I’ve witnessed many acres of farmland set ablaze when the winds carried tiny embers from fireplaces or from cigarette butts carelessly thrown by the roadside. With the dry grassland vegetation, all that is needed to start a devastating fire is a little spark.
That is how James describes the tongue, calling it “a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on…
Hidden Mysteries
Most of what goes on in the universe we never see. Many things are too small or move too fast or even too slow for us to see. Using modern technology, however, filmmaker Louis Schwartzberg is able to show stunning video images of some of those things—a caterpillar’s mouth, the eye of a fruit fly, the growth of a mushroom.
Our limited ability to see the awesome and intricate detail of things in the physical world reminds us that our ability to see and understand what’s happening in the spiritual realm is equally limited. God is at work all around…
3 Ways to Reconcile Our Differences
Elton John was right in his song, “Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word”. It is always hard to say “sorry” in an argument.
Honoring My Parents From Afar
For the past eight years, I’ve been living away from home. In 2007, l left Fuzhou, China, to pursue my studies; I now have a Master’s degree and a job in Shanghai. Save for the winter and summer breaks when I make short trips back home to visit my parents and younger sister, I’m not with them most of the time.
Look at the Tassels
Best-selling author Chaim Potok began his novel The Chosen by describing a baseball game between two Jewish teams in New York City. Reuven Malter, the book’s main character, notices that the opposing players’ uniforms have a unique accessory—four long ropelike tassels that extend below each teammate’s shirt. Reuven recognizes the tassels as a sign of strict obedience to God’s Old Testament laws.
The history of these fringes—known as tzitzit—began with a message from God. Through Moses, God told His people to create tassels containing some strands of blue thread and attach them to the four corners of their top garments (Num.…
My Family’s 5 Most Annoying Habits
I come from a family of five, comprising four women and one man. We have our fair share of annoying habits: those we used to have, those we still have, and those I do not even want to imagine we might develop in future.
God Amid Daily Challenges In My Life
After Papa died, we tried to get back to our normal routines. I was about to embark on my thesis in the field of clinical pharmacy, but faced my first roadblock—I didn’t have enough money to fund the thesis, and I didn’t want to ask my sister for money.
Never Stop Learning
Sheryl is a voracious reader. While others are watching television or playing video games, she is deeply engrossed in the pages of a book.
Much of this zeal can be traced back to her early childhood. Her family often visited a great aunt and uncle who owned a bookstore. There, Sheryl would sit on Uncle Ed’s lap as he read to her and introduced her to the wonders and delights of books.
Centuries ago a young man named Timothy had his steps guided on the road to learning. In Paul’s last recorded letter, he acknowledged that Timothy was first introduced…
Don’t Lose Heart
Cooking can become tedious work when I do it three times a day, week after week. I get tired of peeling, cutting, slicing, mixing, and then waiting for food to bake, grill, or boil. But eating is never tedious! It’s actually something we truly enjoy even though we do it day after day.
Paul used the illustration of sowing and reaping because he knew that doing good can be tiring (Gal. 6:7-10). He wrote, “Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart” (v.9). It’s difficult to love…
The Unlikely
Fanny Kemble was a British actress who moved to America in the early 1800s and married a southern plantation owner named Pierce Butler. Fanny enjoyed the life afforded by the wealth of the plantation, until she saw the cost of that luxury—a cost paid by the slaves who worked her husband’s plantations.
Having written a memoir of the cruel treatment slaves often suffered, Kemble was eventually divorced from her husband. Her writings were widely circulated among abolitionists and published in 1863 as Journal of a Residence on a Georgian Plantation in 1838–1839. Because of her opposition to slavery, the former wife…
When Your Sin Comes to Light
Mixed feelings. Apprehension. Guilt. Shame. Regret. If any of those popped to mind, know that you’re not alone. Like it or not, each one of us have our fair share of bright and dark patches. For the latter, we probably wish we could erase or hide those parts away permanently. The good news for most of us is that we’d probably never have to worry about others knowing about those parts as long as we hide them well enough, or the law doesn’t ever find us out.
