Father to the fatherless, defender of widows—this is God, whose dwelling is holy. Psalm 68:5 (NLT) No one is born knowing how to be a good parent. We pick up our parenting skills by watching our parents, grandparents and other role models. So what happens if you didn’t have a great example? Many people are worried about becoming parents because they fear that they’ll be just like their mom or dad, but there are many ways to become a great parent even if your parents set a bad example. You are not destined to follow in their footsteps, although you will need to learn a few skills to travel a different path. There are a ton of great parenting books and courses you can benefit …

Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome. 1 John 5:3 (NLT) When you love someone, you want to make them smile. Years ago parents used to arrange marriages for their kids. In an arranged marriage, families would choose a spouse for their child to the best of their ability. Of course, at first the couple wouldn’t be in love, but the idea was they would develop love for each other. If they developed love, that marriage would thrive. Without love, it would be hard. You see, a loveless marriage becomes centred on roles and rules rather than relationship, which takes all the joy and passion out of it. The same is true of your relationship with God. If you give …

If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:9 (NKJV) We all want to grow and mature in God. But do you ever wonder how? There are plenty of measures of spiritual maturity out there, but I’d like to simplify it with one statement: Grow in your love walk. If there’s one thing I’d like to see in my life and in yours, it’s to develop and grow in love. As believers, this love walk is a choice. It doesn’t happen automatically just because you’ve given your life to Christ. Love for God is rarely like love at first sight. It’s a love you develop. You …

Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your creator and become like him. Colossians 3:10 (NLT) God is more concerned with the internal workings of your heart than the external workings of your habits or skills. He is focused on who you are becoming. You see, when you become something, it takes little effort to exhibit those habits. As an example, being loyal to your friends is easy when you’re loyal person. You don’t have to strive for it because it’s who you are. But how do you become a loyal person? Striving and working at changing every single bad habit you have is an uphill battle that you will never win. There’s a much better way. And the …

For God new his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. Romans 8:29 (NLT) Do you ever worry that you might miss what you’re supposed to do with your life? Jeremiah 29:11 tells us that God has a hope-filled plan for each of our lives. However, many people panic when they hear this and frantically begin to search for their destiny. They are so concerned with what they’re supposed to DO that they forget what they have BECOME. We put the cart before the horse when we only focus on doing. We want to measure our spiritual health by what we are accomplishing, but God looks at …