Fear Not: What Isaiah 41:10 Means When Fear Is Loudest

  "Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand." I've had Isaia...

What Does 'One Nation Under God' Actually Mean?

  I grew up saying the Pledge of Allegiance every morning in school. "One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." I said it so many times that the wor...

What to Say (and What Not to Say) to Someone Who Is Grieving

I've been on both sides of grief. I've been the person in it, and I've been the person standing next to someone who was in it, trying to figure out what to say and mostly getti...

What Jeremiah 29:11 Actually Means (And Why the Context Changes Everything)

Jeremiah 29:11 is probably the most quoted verse in the Bible for people going through hard things. It's on graduation cards and hospital room walls and Instagram posts and cof...

Why Christians Wear Their Faith (And Why It Matters More Than You Think)

I used to be a little embarrassed by Christian T-shirts. Not the faith — the shirts. They felt like they were trying too hard, or not hard enough, depending on the design. The ...

God Is Greater Than the Highs and Lows (What That Actually Means)

  I've noticed something about the phrase "God is greater than the highs and lows." People put it on candles and coffee mugs and phone cases, and I think most of us say it with...

When You Can't Be Still: Finding God in the Anxious Seasons

"Be still and know that I am God." I've had that verse on my wall for years. I've quoted it to friends in hard seasons. I've written it in cards and prayed it in the dark and l...

What Does It Mean to Love Like Jesus? (Harder and Better Than You Think)

  I used to think loving like Jesus meant being nicer. Smiling more. Being patient in traffic. Saying kind things. And those aren't wrong — but they're not what Jesus meant, an...

What Did Jesus Mean When He Said 'It Is Finished'? (It's More Than You Think)

I've preached on the cross more times than I can count. I've read John 19:30 in every translation. I've heard sermons on it, sung songs about it, quoted it in hospital rooms an...

What I Learned About Joy When I Had Every Reason to Be Stressed

The year I finally understood what "the joy of the Lord is your strength" meant was the worst year of my life. My husband had lost his job in February. By April, we were three ...

What Does It Mean to Be a Proverbs 31 Woman? (The Real Answer)

I have a complicated relationship with Proverbs 31. I think a lot of women do. For years, I read it as a to-do list I could never finish. She wakes up before dawn. She runs a b...

What Does It Mean to Be a Man of God? (The Real Answer)

I grew up in a church that talked a lot about being a man of God. It was the highest compliment you could give a man — higher than successful, higher than respected, higher tha...