Many enter into this season with much hope, but end with hope deferred. This happens because we hope in things that are not always able to deliver on their promise. Mary put her hope in God to bring about salvation in her humble state. She put her hope in the one who holds the future. She had an expectant hope that would not be deferred for long. This is true for all who put their hope in God to bring about a hope-filled future through Jesus Christ.

Hospitality means loving the stranger. God calls his people to love the outsider like one who belongs, so that he or she might know what it is like to belong to God’s family and want to come home to God. Hospitality is about making space for people to be at home with us so that eventually they might be at home with God. As we close this series, let’s consider how we make space in all of life for people to belong so that they might come to believe.

Hospitality means loving the stranger. God calls his people to love the outsider like one who belongs, so that he or she might know what it is like to belong to God’s family and want to come home to God. Hospitality is about making space for people to be at home with us so that eventually they might be at home with God. As we close this series, let’s consider how we make space in all of life for people to belong so that they might come to believe.

Train up your child in the way to go (Proverbs 22:6). This requires discipline, which is one of the best expressions of parental love (Proverbs 13:24). Parents are the primary disciplers of their children and as such are called to train their children in the way they should go, which is to Jesus; along the way so they learn how to go to Jesus in the everyday stuff of life; and to go a-way, training them for a life of following Jesus.

Train up your child in the way to go (Proverbs 22:6). This requires discipline, which is one of the best expressions of parental love (Proverbs 13:24). Parents are the primary disciplers of their children and as such are called to train their children in the way they should go, which is to Jesus; along the way so they learn how to go to Jesus in the everyday stuff of life; and to go a-way, training them for a life of following Jesus.

There are many who believe in free love – free sex. But love is not free and sex isn’t cheap. There is a real cost to love and sex. All sexual activity outside of the covenant of marriage brings about destruction as you surrender your self and strength to an uncommitted other. Godly, life-giving, joy-filled sex is costly as well because it requires a life-long commitment to covenant love and fidelity. Ultimately, we need the life-giving love of Jesus to cleanse us from our infidelity and fill us with his self-sacrificial love so that we can love one another as he loves us.

There are many who believe in free love – free sex. But love is not free and sex isn’t cheap. There is a real cost to love and sex. All sexual activity outside of the covenant of marriage brings about destruction as you surrender your self and strength to an uncommitted other. Godly, life-giving, joy-filled sex is costly as well because it requires a life-long commitment to covenant love and fidelity. Ultimately, we need the life-giving love of Jesus to cleanse us from our infidelity and fill us with his self-sacrificial love so that we can love one another as he loves us.

Wisdom isn’t learned and developed in isolation. Wisdom is cultivated and practiced in the context of loving friendships. True friends stick close together for the long haul; are willing to speak loving truth that wounds and sharpens; and forgive one another to maintain a loving community together.

Wisdom isn’t learned and developed in isolation. Wisdom is cultivated and practiced in the context of loving friendships. True friends stick close together for the long haul; are willing to speak loving truth that wounds and sharpens; and forgive one another to maintain a loving community together.

Whatever is coming out of your life started within your heart. That is why Proverbs 4:23 exhorts us to “above all else guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life” (NIV). As Christians, we aren’t primarily concerned with behavior modification, but heart transformation. With that in mind, we need to keep watch over our hearts, examine them closely and regularly experience heart renewal through the gospel of Jesus Christ.