Like many of us, I can get wrapped up in my own world—the problems I’m facing and the goals I’m trying to achieve. I often need to remind myself that all the members of my family have their own worlds too—their own struggles, dreams, and daily realities. Actually, I’ve found that an important key to connecting with my kids has been to step out of “my world” and into each of their worlds as much as I can. At first this wasn’t easy. When I worked in emergency rescue, my world included attending to suicide calls, accidents with multiple casualties, and victims of brutal violence. Because these problems seemed so big, I struggled to identify with my kids when they shared their frustrations. When they …

I don’t think we as Christians realize how arrogant we sound sometimes. We come across as ignorant when we push our answers at others as though they’re stupid not to believe what we believe. Jesus didn’t treat people this way when he walked the planet, and we need to follow his lead. He knew that the most powerful way to influence someone is to genuinely respect them. If you think about it, what causes you to be attracted to someone? Sure, their appearance can play a part, but the primary reason for being attracted to someone is because you like the way they make you feel. People love being around others who make them feel respected. In fact, that respect inspires them to want to …

When it comes to getting great at loving others, we can’t look to a better example than Jesus. But most people would be surprised to find out how tough Jesus was. Jesus most definitely loved people, but he was no doormat. He was not “nice” in the way we tend to understand it. Now, before you call me sacrilegious for saying that, think about it. Jesus flipped over tables in a synagogue in anger over how God’s house was being used (John 2:15). He spilled people’s money and wares all over the place and ticked off a lot of people in the process. Does that seem like a “nice Christian” thing to do? Jesus also confronted religious leaders, saying things like, “You belong to your …

If you’re like most people, past experiences probably influence your self-image. If you’ve failed, you may feel like a failure, but that’s the wrong way to think. Your failures do not define you. In fact, God wants you to feel good about yourself so you can live the amazing life he has for you. I realize that statement directly contradicts much of the religious teaching out there, which is based on negative motivation. You may have been taught that anyone who breaks the Ten Commandments stands a good chance of burning in hell for it, which might have caused you to question if there was any point in trying to be good. Not only is that teaching false, biblically speaking, but its negative motivation never …

Do you ever wonder what Jesus was really like? Bearded with long hair and sad eyes, wearing a robe and sandals, and looking strangely similar to a flowerchild hippie—this is the picture that comes to mind when we think of Jesus. But does this picture line up with scripture? The Bible doesn’t have much to say about Jesus’s physical appearance, but it does have a lot to say about his characteristics and behaviour. And when you compare our modern-day impressions of him to that reality, they can seem pretty distorted. For example, Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5), but that little word meek often trips us up. According to Merriam-Webster, meek means: “Having or showing a quiet …