Determination

Very near the end of his full and productive life, Paul wrote: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7). What a grand epitaph! He seized every day by the throat. He relentlessly pursued life.

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Humility

“I forget what is behind” is a statement that assures us Paul was not the type to live in the past. He says, in effect, “I disregard my own accomplishments as well as others’ offenses against me. I refuse to dwell on that.” This requires humility. This becomes especially clear when you examine Paul’s past.

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Vulnerability

Remember these words from yesterday? “I have not arrived . . . I forget what is behind . . . I move on to what is ahead.” Over the next few days, I want to examine each part of this statement from the pen of the apostle Paul. The first part offers an important characteristic for us as believers: vulnerability.

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Forgetting Your Own Good Deeds

Yesterday, we talked about what it means to “forget” when other people do bad deeds to us. Today, I want to address forgetting when we do good deeds to others. In other words, once our own good deeds are done, they’re done. Forget them. No need to drop little hints on how thoughtful we were. Just as we refuse to keep score of how people have offended us, we don’t keep score of all we’ve done for them.

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Three Basic Ingredients of Servanthood

The Word of God lays a solid, biblical foundation for what it means to have a servant mentality. But let’s get some handles on what’s involved in pulling it off. For starters, let me suggest three basic ingredients of servanthood: giving, forgiving, and forgetting.

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The Servant as a Giver

Lots of philosophies are floating around, and most of them are more confusing than they are helpful. Interestingly, those that are clear enough to be understood usually end up focusing full attention on the individual.

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Unwrap Joy This Christmas

We sing a lot about “joy” each December. Have you noticed? We’ll offer “tidings of comfort and joy,” and we’ll join our voices on carols with titles like, “How Great Our Joy!” and “Joy to the World!” There’s just one problem. We aren’t joyful. Oh, we sing the songs and sip the hot chocolate and […]

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Peace that Exceeds Understanding

Peace. Whisper the word to yourself and you can almost feel your heart relax. When you’re at peace, you feel an inner confidence that things are not running wild—regardless of the circumstances. Your mind is at rest. Your heart doesn’t flutter with anxiety. Your focus is clear. But far too often, peace is like that […]

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