At the beginning of a new year, people often make goals and set resolutions for how they would like to improve their lives. Most of these goals and resolutions are attempts at behavior modification. However, often, our lives are lacking something more than simply being more disciplined. We’re often neglecting the most important part of […]

Love is the final theme we’re exploring in this Advent series. Being loved and giving love are universal desires that all people have. However, defining love can be complicated when, “I love my wife” and “I love cheese” are both valid uses of the word. But while definitions are elusive, we all know that love […]

The theme of this third installment of our Advent series is joy. People have a deep desire to find joy or happiness. We all desire to be happy. Most of us seek happiness in prosperity and security. The problem is that prosperity and security can be hard to achieve, and even if you achieve them, […]

Peace is something that we all want, but it’s something that is so very hard to find. However, the Bible tells us that Jesus has come to bring us peace. It’s one of the things that we celebrate in the Advent season. But what is true peace? In Hebrew, the word for peace, “shalom”, means […]

The Hebrew word for hope carries with it this idea that no matter how bad the present may be, there is way through it, because of a future that God promises. Hope carries expectations of a new tomorrow. Hope is based on something that is in our future, but even so, it gives us courage, […]

God generously gives us His protection, which is something we should be grateful for. However, there is a tension in God’s protection. God doesn’t always keep us safe, at least not the way we think He should. The lives of many people in the Bible, including Paul and Joseph, show that God has never promised […]

Gratitude can be difficult in our modern world because we often live out of a scarcity mindset. We often think that there isn’t enough to go around, so we need to get all we can while we can. This causes us to focus on what we don’t have rather than what we do. We become […]

This time of the year, we are often reminded of the importance of gratitude. Gratitude is beneficial physically, mentally, and spiritually. However, gratitude can be difficult. Throughout the Bible, God calls his people to remember what he has done. This remembrance plays a huge role in gratitude. God is a generous God and when we […]