Browsing Category:

Ephesians

In Bible Study, Blog, Ephesians on
June 28, 2021

Truth in Love

If there’s one thing the American church overemphasizes, it’s this: love. Don’t get me wrong; love is an important thing for Christians to have and to practice in their daily lives. We are called to love God, love our neighbors, and love our enemies (Matthew 22:37-39, Luke 6:35). Love is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22), and it’s greater than faith or hope (1 Corinthians 13:13). Those who do not love don’t know God. How do we know this? Because God is love (1 John 4:8).

Love is important for the Christian. But many people today, including many in the church, are redefining what love is. To them, love is an acceptance and an affirmation of a person and their lifestyle. To them, love means that you cannot judge someone, regardless of the choices they are making in their lives. To them, love equals avoiding controversial or uncomfortable conversations for the sake of “keeping the peace.”

This love is not a biblical form of love. These practices are not what the Bible calls us to. Instead, God’s Word calls us to “speak the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15). But what exactly does this mean?

Read more
In Bible Study, Blog, Ephesians on
September 14, 2020

Our Real Enemy

Our country is very divided right now, perhaps the most divided it’s been since the Civil War era. We’re constantly arguing and bickering with those we disagree with, and it seems like there is nothing we can all agree on. I feel like this is the most evident on Twitter. Twitter can often seem like a cesspool full of angry, bitter people who think that what they believe is right and anyone who disagrees with is them is a terrible, horrible, awful person. Now, this surely doesn’t describe everyone on Twitter. I’m on Twitter, and I certainly wouldn’t describe myself as angry and bitter ;). But there have been many, many times in recent months that I see a tweet that I think is completely wrong, and it takes a lot of self-control and restraint not to reply, or at least not reply in a way that is not Christ-like.

These days we can often see the people we disagree with on Twitter, on Facebook, or even in real life as our enemies. They believe in things that are completely antithetical to our beliefs and convictions, so we distance ourselves from these perceived enemies as much as possible. Scripture argues, though, that these people are not our enemies, but that we do have a very real enemy who is at work in this world.

continue reading