My family has always been what some might describe as ‘textbook Christian’: We go to church every Sunday, and attend fellowships and retreats. We read the Bible, join Bible study groups, and hold Bible study sessions at home. We believe that a family that prays together stays together.
And yet, it has always been painful for me to see how much conflict and tension we have in our home.
We often hold on to something—whether it’s a relationship that we know isn’t pleasing to God, or a job or task that we’ve outgrown—for longer than we need to.
Perhaps it feels impossible and wrong to quit. So we persevere and plod along, even when it’s leading us nowhere.
We had just finished a study and were about to share our prayer requests when one of them began by saying:
“If you could please pray for me, I feel like I’m addicted to shopping. Like maybe I’m spending a bit too much buying things that I don’t need.”
When I heard this, I felt crestfallen. Not because there was anything wrong with what she had shared, but because I suddenly felt like I could not be as honest with my own confession.
Yet, as I have learned in the nine short months that I’ve been married, there were things—situations, emotions—that I had imagined differently when I was single. Close friends of mine who were also newlyweds, shared similar sentiments.
Having now been on both sides, my hope is that what I’m about to share will benefit two groups. First, to encourage those who are dating and waiting to get married to consider how they could prepare themselves emotionally. Second, to encourage those who are single to reconsider some assumptions they may have about marriage that may not be entirely accurate.
We all struggle with faithfulness from time to time, but sometimes, we may be experiencing guilt about the wrong thing or feeling frustrated because our ideas of what faithfulness looks like aren’t playing out in our lives.
Here are five myths we may be holding onto about what it really means to be faithful.
To me, what made Lupin so interesting was the titular character, Assane Diop (played by French actor Omar Sy), and how he outwitted the people around him at every turn. Whenever I watch shows like this, I’m always vaguely amused (and bemused) by how eagerly I root for the protagonists, even when they’re supposed to be the “bad guys”.
I was sitting in the car, on my way to meet my church group, when I began thinking about this question: “Who is Jesus to me?” Our church group was about to start a “Back to Basics” study series, and it made me realise how everything I’ve learned and believe in as a Christian all goes back to Jesus. But in that moment, as I thought about what Jesus meant to me personally, I was drawing a blank.
I will admit that there are times when reading Bible verses doesn’t make me feel better; when everything feels dry and I am weary.
And yet, I find that prayer is the very place for this struggle, this weariness.
Do you ever pray with reservations? It goes like this: you ask God for something, but you’re not sure if He’ll give it; so you still pray but you’re not holding your breath, because you don’t want to get your hopes up.