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What Lent & Valentine’s Day Have in Common
You may have noticed something unusual about this Wednesday: February 14th. Besides this celebration of Cupid’s arrows, it’s also Ash Wednesday—the first day of Lent. Both holidays happen to coincide on the same day this year. Some of us view Valentine’s Day as the day for excessive chocolate eating, right? And Lent, of course, is often typified by fasting in preparation for Easter. At first glance, these special days may seem contradictory, but the more I’ve thought about it the more I appreciate the connection—particularly the one unifying word, love. If you’ve been around while, you know that chocolate and roses don’t define love. True love involves enduring sacrifice for…
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3 Ways to Encourage a Love for the Bible
You can’t force someone to like something just because you do, but that doesn’t mean you have no influence. As a famous saying goes, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink. However, you can always feed him his salt.” Sometimes we underestimate our influence over others, especially our own family members. One of the reasons I love the Bible so much today is due to the influence of my parents, older siblings, and respected adult leaders in our church. Here are 3 Ways to pass on a love for the Word of God. 1.) Be excited about God’s Word & show it. In baseball,…
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5 Ways to Encourage Gratitude in Your Family
Johnny Henry Jowett, a well-known pastor from the late 1800’s, said: “Life without thankfulness is devoid of love and passion. Hope without thankfulness is lacking in fine perception. Faith without thankfulness lacks strength and fortitude. Every virtue divorced from thankfulness is maimed and limps along the spiritual road.” I’ve never doubted the importance of gratitude. Many studies done in recent years back this up. Wall Street Journal, for example, referenced a study done among teens showing that those with higher amounts of gratitude also had higher grades, less depression, less envy, and a healthier outlook on life. Yet, sometimes I’ve failed to see the full value. Even worse are those…
