Here is a collection of good reads gathered from across the internet this past week. Enjoy!
On the nature of faith and the Christian life: Faith Isn’t All Mountaintop Moments by Lucy Worley
The sign of an authentic relationship with God is that it allows itself to change over time. In any relationship, we have to adapt and fight to overcome new challenges. If we try to cling to how it was at the beginning, we will never grow in actual relationship. The truth of God’s unconditional love for us never changes, but we have to let that truth be expressed differently as needed in different seasons. (click here to read more)
On repentance and sexual history: You Are Not Damaged Goods by Paul Maxwell
You’re going to be okay. It hurts badly. But God walks us through things like this for our good. If he allowed us to be twisted without repercussions, we would all have spiritual nerve damage — getting burned and bruised because we can never feel the pain of dangerous choices. Against all the awful things we might feel about ourselves, God gives us three things when we are rejected because of sexual history. He gives us honor, healing, and hope. (click here to read more)
On parenting: The Importance of Enjoying Your Kids by Ray Ortlund
We all experience sincere enjoyment as love. The Westminster Catechism says that “the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.” When we sincerely enjoy God as our greatest good—at the level of our heart and at the level of our mind—God feels loved. That same principle is true of all interpersonal relationships.
When our children sense that we sincerely enjoy them, they feel loved. Our children have not been sent into our lives as some sort of curse or burden, even though they require and deserve tremendous attention. (click here to read more)
Another on parenting: Patient Parenting by David Murray
If there’s one lesson I’ve learned in parenting five kids (now aged 2, 12, 14, 18, 19), it’s the need for patience. That has not come easily to the second most impatient man in the world, but parenting has certainly exercised and strengthened this spiritual muscle over the years. So much so, I now believe that patience is Christian parents’ greatest need. Here are six areas of parenting where I’ve learned (and am learning) to exercise patience… (click here to read more)
On friendship: Why Friendships Were so much Easier in College by Josh Howerton
Here’s the real reason a lot of people don’t develop meaningful friendships: it’s hard. But here’s the real reason why everyone wishes they had: it’s worth it. Remember, God is a Trinity who has been in the most intimate relationships in the universe for eternity. And because we’re created in God’s image, we were designed to need relationship. (click here to read more)
And finally… some wisdom from Alistair Begg’s instagram feed:
First Baptist Church 