What matters more quantity or quality? Jesus reveals in this passage that quantity is not the focus when it comes to giving of ourselves and all we have, instead it is quality, and even the heart that our gifts come from.

Talking about how we spend out time and money is one of the most challenging topics to address, yet the bible has hundreds of verses about this very topic. What does God have to say about how we spend our time and money? What does it look like to handle all God has given us as a gift, and offer it back to Him out of gratitude? God is not just interested in checks and dollars, but in the hearts that offer up our time, our money, and our very lives to Him.

Churches are often ripe for conflict, miscommunications, and disagreements. Jesus anticipated this and left a code of conduct for handling these challenging situations with love and respect, perhaps a bit different that we are used to seeing conflict handled.

Research tells us that a healthy relationship needs 5 positive interactions to every 1 negative one. But the research is not just science, it biblical. Our words have a tremendous power, and as believers we need to wield it with care and responsibility. Our words need to reflect our love for others and our love for God.

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We live in a world of comparison. We value everything in comparison to something else. We all may be different, but in God’s eyes that does not make us better or worse than the next person. We each are broken people in need of a savior. So how does that fact change the way we interact with each other?

In a moment of change and trials, we can be quick to blame God, or even get mad. But Habakkuk responds in a totally different manner, calling on God for revival. Habakkuk turns to God with Hope, and says God, I know you can change the world, I know you can bring something amazing out of all this change, and I want to see it. Do we have a heart like Habakkuk that can turn to God and say God, your will be done, and I want to be part of it, even if it is something I am unfamiliar with, something I have never done before?

Change and trials have an effect on people that often leads them to make their most irrational and poorly thought-out decisions. We get o focused on getting rid of our discomfort that we begin to look for any way out instead of looking to Gd and asking for His guidance and direction into something new.

Change is challenging, and often does not come easily. In fact, during times of change one of our first and most common reactions is to complain. We complain because things are different, challenging, and just not the way it’s always been. God reminds us here to trust in His leading and new direction, that getting things our own way, often is not as good as we may think it is.

Christian, believer, follower of Jesus are not just labels that we put on, but they are lifestyles we are supposed to adopt. James makes the case that unless those labels mean life change, and action, they are dead, useless, and hurtful. Why would you wear that label if you are not going to life it out?