EMDR and the Meaning of Suffering
What is a godly way of working through suffering? This article begins by discussing a treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, yet it goes beyond promoting certain techniques by encouraging biblical ways of examining pain and suffering.
Love One Another
The author reflects on the true meaning of Christian brotherly love by comparing it to the love between a husband and wife. By referring to 1 John 3:16-18, she emphasizes that love is an action and not simply an emotion, and that it is based on commitment.
The Second Great Commandment
This article discusses how the second greatest commandment is like the first one. By quoting Matthew 5:43-45, it also explains what Jesus meant when he commanded us to love our neighbour as ourselves. The discussion of these questions is centred on the teaching of man as created in God's image.
Practical Advice on Confession
This article offers a few practical pointers about confession of sin: confess it early, confess it to one another, and at times, sit among the weeds to learn from them.
The Cure for Spiritual Amnesia
Do you notice how many times the Lord in Scripture commands his people to remember the things he has done for them? Our fallen nature results in us being plagued with spiritual amnesia, with forgetting who God is and what he commands of us. This article calls the believer to remember God's Word and works, and thereby be encouraged.
The Marks of a Spiritual Leader
What does it mean to be a spiritual leader? This article indicates that spiritual leadership is rooted in knowing where God wants people to be and taking the initiative to use God’s means to get them there. This understanding of leadership has two aspects to it: the inner circle and the outer circle.
Faith Hacking: Preaching the Gospel to Yourself
Learning to preach the gospel to yourself is important for every Christian. It is important for your Christian life and pursuing holiness.
Piety, According to John Calvin
Seeking His Face
This article is about seeking God daily through personal devotions, prayer, and church attendance.
Training in Godliness
The Real Olympics
The Romans 8 Challenge
Memorizing Scripture is important for every Christian. This article provides two benefits of Scripture memorization and two techniques for Scripture memorization.
Help! I'm a Spiritual Fake
This article discusses from 1 John four fruits of confession of your sins.
Nine Ways to Guard Your Personal Relationship with God
Do you want to know how you can guard your relationship with God? The article provides nine ways.
How to Confess Your Sins to God
Do you want to know how to confess your sins to God? This article discusses four ways.
Soul-Care in a Fitness-Crazed World
The world in which we live is obsessed with healthy bodies, while it ignores caring for the health of the soul. The article discusses the vanity of focus only on our earthly bodies in contrast to the great gain that comes through healthy souls.
Eight Scriptural Questions to Ask Yourself Today
Self-examination, when done well, will lead to spiritual growth and joy. Here are eight questions you need to ask yourself in your spiritual examination.
Twelve Questions for a Six-Month Spiritual Checkup
How is your spiritual life? Are you showing spiritual growth? How do you know if you are growing? This article provides twelve questions you can use for your spiritual examination.
Confessing in the Bible
The Blessings of Forgiveness
Forgiveness is the soil in which spiritual fruits and divine blessings are cultivated. This article explains that extending forgiveness to others brings great blessings upon the Christian life.
The Hidden World of Our Thoughts
Four Ways to Get Spiritually Fit
How do you become spiritually fit? You need healthy spiritual habits. This article lists four ways to build such habits.
Failing of the Grace of God
The Joy of Confession
This article underlines the joy that comes from confession of sin. It shows from passages like Psalm 103 the power of God's cleansing work.
Four Reasons Every Christian Needs Time in Silence
This article considers the value of times of silence in the life of a Christian. Silence exposes the soul, confronts the voices that we face throughout our life, teaches us to listen, and tests our need for noise. The author calls Christians to embrace the quiet.
Confusing Faith with Taking Big Risks for God
How should we think about the promises of God? God's promises should be received by faith. However, this article explains the difference between living by faith and taking risks.
Take Up Your Cross, Put Down Your Phone, and Follow Me
This article provides suggestions for eliminating digital distractions in our lives in order to develop our walk with the Lord. It suggests to cultivate a deep walk through time in God's Word, in prayer, by making time for people and corporate worship, and by knowing what is truly important.
He's Memorized Forty-Two Books of the Bible and You Can, Too
This article discusses one approach to memorizing books of the Bible, and how to retain them in memory.
You Cannot Coast into Christlikeness
This article discusses the importance of self-discipline in the Christian life, as we conform to Christ. The author argues that the only road to godliness is through the practice of the spiritual disciplines.
Self-Examination
Spiritual Disciplines: Our Local Church
Spiritual Disciplines: Silence and Solitude
Growth in Grace Advances Knowledge of Sin
Growing in grace is what is expected of every Christian. How do you see your Christian growth and that you are becoming a mature Christian? This article explains that one of the signs of spiritual growth is seen in the extent to which you grow in your knowledge of sin in your life.
Awakening Sin to Kill It
Mortification of sin can happen when you see sin for what it is. This article discusses five motivations for mortifying sin.
How Not to Ask for Forgiveness
Every Christian sins, so every Christian needs to ask forgiveness. Yet how we ask forgiveness speaks to the quality of our repentance. This article mentions five ways we can evaluate whether our repentance is sincere or not.
Giving and Receiving Commendation
This article provides some scriptural principles on how we are to give and receive commendation: praise is not for ourselves but for others, we must guard against all forms of flattery, and we must learn to honour others in the Lord.
Forgiveness
Is there a condition to forgiving? This article argues that Christians are called to forgive as God forgave them. Therefore the condition of forgiveness is repentance.
Laughing through Your Tears
Keep a Close Watch on Yourself!
Self-watch is the responsibility God charges every believer with. Such self-watching is in agreement with 1 Timothy 4:16. The article explains.
The Training Ground of Sound Doctrine
Sound doctrine is essential to the Christian life. Therefore, every Christian has the responsibility to train himself in sound doctrine. How do you do such a training? This article discusses three means God has provided.
5 Ways to Minister to Other Christians This Sunday
Serving one another as Christians should be our desire. However, at times we do not know how to minister to others even when we want to. This article offers five ways you can serve others.
The Duty of Introspection
The biblical command for self-examination necessitates introspection. This article explains the purpose, pattern, danger, and duty of introspection.
The Duty of Devotion
Whether it be devotion to family or personal devotions, Christians should honour the virtue of devotion. This article explains the purpose, pattern, danger and duty of devotion.
How to Lead a Small Group Bible Study
How to lead a Bible study? This article looks at the role of the leader in a small groups Bible study, and gives practical tips on leading the study. It also looks at common problems that arise during a Bible study.
How We Engage in Self-Examination
Repenting Always
The only way to avoid the trap of self-righteousness is to always remember that the entirety of the Christian life is that of repentance. This article will explain.
The Spiritual Discipline of Journaling
Come to Me All Who Are Weary and Burdened, and I Will Give You Rest
Three Exercises For the Soul
For the soul to be healthy, the Christian must practice rejoicing, praying, and thanksgiving (spiritual exercises).
The Book of Proverbs and Repetition
Some things are worth repeating, that they might not be forgotten. The book of Proverbs uses repetition to teach us the importance of correction and hungering after wisdom, the danger of legalism, the value of Christian friendship, the need for sexual purity, and the reality of eternal life.
Primer on Ash Wednesday
This article discusses Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, a forty-day block that ends with Easter. It explains why it is worthwhile for Christians to observe this day in the church calendar.
Disciplines of a Godly Man – Discipline for Godliness
Formation of a Christian character includes cultivation of spiritual disciplines and exercises. Hughes' point of departure is Paul’s encouragement to Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:7. Paul calls Timothy to “train yourself to be godly.” In Chapter 1 Hughes takes a look at what this training entails.
Entrusted with the Oracles of God...
Christians are entrusted with the word of God. This article makes a plea to believers to treat God's word with respect and honour by reading and obeying it.
Sleepers, Awake!
Fifty Impediments to Growth in Grace
Yearning for God: The Potential and Poverty of the Catholic Spirituality of Francis de Sales
This essay is about spiritual formation, spirituality, or personal transformation in the presence of God. Scorgie understands spirituality to be about experiencing the Triune God in a personally transforming way. He argues that intimacy with the holy God is necessarily purging and sanctifying.
Hurry Up and Rest
Evangelical Spirituality Reviewed
This essay offers an analysis of the theology and structure of evangelical spirituality. It also reviews the present practice of spirituality in the light of contemporary trends. It wants to give a critical review of the practice and sources of evangelical spirituality, in order to show the strengths and weaknesses of evangelical spirituality. It also wants to determine whether other traditions of spirituality are compatible with it, and how they might be used to enrich it.
The Duty and Benefits of Self-Examination
This article considers the discipline of self-examination.
Eight Ways to Practice Christianity Monday through Saturday
Christianity is not a Sunday-only issue. It is a daily matter. This article gives eight practical things to do in your daily Christian life.
The Dead Letter? Psalm 119 and the Spirituality of the Bible in the Local Church
How does the Bible function in Christian spirituality and spiritual exercises? The article argues that the Bible's potential to facilitate an encounter with God is underestimated. The author reflects on the way Psalm 119 relates to the believer. The psalm is acknowledged as acting upon the reader and is not seen merely as a passive object of study.