Here are some of the good reads found this week:
Contentment Isn't Only for Hard Times, HT to Challies. "I was about as happy as a person could be. I say 'about' because one unwelcome thought intruded: It's not going to last. I was only visiting for a couple of weeks, and then I'd be back to the daily grind of work and responsibilities. In that moment, amid deep joy, the grace of contentment was just as essential as it is when my life is falling apart. I need contentment to receive God's immense blessings gratefully, even knowing they're temporary."
It's OK to Be OK, HT to Challies. "We need to fight two battles at once. We need to keep telling people that life is hard, the world is fallen, and we all fall short in sin. It's OK to struggle, and when we do, we need to ask for help . . . However, we don't need to equate authenticity with struggle. We need to leave room for people to be authentically happy—for life to go well sometimes."
On Magic. "What is magic, in essence? It's an attempt to get the gods to do what you want. And that is to turn the universe upside down and inside out. God is not our servant; he is not here to do what we want. We are here to do what he wants. If I do this or this or that, God will do what I want. That's, ironically, godless thinking."
Don't Be Proud of What You Had No Say In, HT to Challies. "Many of the things that people tend to be proud of are things that we have no say in at all," like height, natural beauty and abilities. "There is a difference between a gift and a talent. A gift is something you receive that you did not earn. A talent is something that you have developed over time, often based on a gift you have received."
15 Resolves for Maintaining Spiritual Balance in Severe Interpersonal Conflicts, HT to Challies. I'd add one that has been a help to me: remembering the other person is beloved by God, and God wants the highest and best for that person, too.
Beware the Instagram Bible. I think I shared this a few years ago, but I needed to look it up again this week. "Beware the Instagram Bible, my daughters—those filtered frames festooned with feathered verses, adorned in all manner of loops and tails, bedecked with blossoms, saturated with sunsets, culled and curated just for you. Beware lest it become for you your source of daily bread. It's telling a partial truth."
When You Can't Forgive Yourself After an Abortion, HT to Challies. Although the context is about abortion, the truths here are good for anyone who feels they can't forgive themselves for something they have done.
Moses spent 40 years thinking he was somebody; 40 years learning he was nobody,
and 40 discovering what God can do with a nobody. — D.L. Moody
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