People who were not like Jesus liked Jesus, and he liked them back. Since the church is the body of Christ, people should be drawn to Jesus' followers. Even if they don’t agree with the message of the church, they should like the church. So, why isn’t that true?

People sometimes use religion to justify positions, especially around social and political topics. But Christianity was never intended to try and win arguments. In fact, it’s just the opposite.

Have you ever replaced an appliance, a piece of furniture, or even a car, and felt the excitement that comes with owning something new? When something is new to us, we treat it differently and it makes us feel different about ourselves. The old item gets tossed, forgotten, or abandoned and the new item is given a place of honor and treated as something more valuable than the thing it replaced. This principle is evident in so many areas of our lives, even in our faith.

We all have something sitting around the house that we just can’t throw away. We haven’t worn it, looked at it, listened to it, or used it in years, but we hang on to it. Why? We talk about spring cleaning, tidying up, and purging to get rid of the old, but there’s always something we just can’t part with. We need to ask ourselves why we are keeping this thing—what difference does it make, and is it time to let it go?

Have you ever asked someone you cared about, “How are we doing?” It’s an important question. It defines the relationship. Until we answer it, our relationship stalls. What would God say if you asked him, “How are we doing?”

Prayer can be challenging. The idea of talking to an invisible God can seem weird to some of us. It seems important though. We feel like we should pray, but we’re not sure we’re getting the words right. But what if our perception of prayer is inaccurate? What if the way we’ve been taught to pray or figured out how to pray over the years is misguided? What if there’s a better way? After watching Jesus for some time, his disciples went to him and said, “Teach us how to pray.” And he taught them. What he said about prayer may surprise you.

Regardless of the area of life, when something becomes personal, it matters more to us. In fact, when something isn’t personal, it rarely keeps our attention, affection, or passion. If this is the case, how do we make faith personal in order to make it last and make the most of it? The good news is that Jesus described the kind of relationship he wants with us, and he was clear—it’s personal.

Becoming a Christian is easy. It won't cost you anything. But Jesus never invited anyone to become a Christian. He invites us to follow.

Our political views are shaped by a number of variables: our backgrounds, education, and personal experiences to name a few. It’s easy to feel like our view is the right one, but the person beside you is more precious to God than your political view.

Your favorite candidate will win or lose based on how our country votes this November. However, the church will win or lose based on our behavior between now and then.