
ODB: The Problem with Pride
People who achieve an extraordinary level of fame or reputation while they are still alive are often called “a legend in their own time.” A friend who played professional baseball says he met many people in the world of sports who were only “a legend in their own mind.” Pride has a way of distorting how we see ourselves while humility offers a realistic perspective.The writ

ODB: A Blanket for Everyone
Linus Van Pelt, better known as simply “Linus,” was a mainstay in the Peanuts comic strip. Witty and wise, yet insecure, Linus constantly carried a security blanket. We can identify. We have our fears and insecurities too.The disciple Peter knew something about fear. When Jesus was arrested, Peter displayed courage by following the Lord into the courtyard of the high priest. B

ODB: Praising Through Problems
“It’s cancer.” I wanted to be strong when Mom said those words to me. But I burst into tears. You never want to hear those words even one time. But this was Mom’s third bout with cancer. After a routine mammogram and biopsy, Mom learned that she had a malignant tumor under her arm.Though Mom was the one with bad news, she had to comfort me. Her response was eye-opening

ODB: Listening to His Voice
I’m hard of hearing—“deaf in one ear and can’t hear out of the other,” as my father used to say. So I wear a set of hearing aids.Most of the time the devices work well, except in environments where there’s a lot of surrounding noise. In those settings, my hearing aids pick up every voice in the room and I cannot hear the person in front of me.So it is with our c

ODB: Is Amazing!
In our natural state, we all fall short of it (Romans 3:23).Jesus was the radiance of it (Hebrews 1:3), and those who knew Him saw it (John 1:14).In the Old Testament, it filled the tabernacle (Exodus 40:34–35), and the Israelites were led by it.And we are promised that at the end of time, heaven will shine with it in splendor so great th

ODB: How to Change a Life
Sometimes our lives can change in a moment through the powerful impact of others. For rock ’n’ roll legend Bruce Springsteen, it was the work of musical artists that helped him through a difficult childhood and a persistent struggle with depression. He found meaning in his own work through the truth he’d experienced firsthand, that “You can change someone’s life

ODB: Stepping Into Opportunity
Like lots of people, I struggle to get enough exercise. So I recently got something to motivate myself to move: a pedometer that counts steps. It’s a simple thing. But it’s amazing how much difference this gadget makes in my motivation. Instead of grumbling when I have to get off the couch, I see it as an opportunity to get a few more steps. Mundane tasks, like getting one of my kids a

ODB: National Treasure
When an advertiser altered a photo of Michelangelo’s famous marble sculpture of the biblical hero David, Italy’s government and gallery officials objected. Picturing David with a military rifle slung over his shoulder (instead of his slingshot) would be a violation—“like taking a hammer to it or worse,” a cultural official said.In first-century Jerusalem, David was re

ODB: White as Snow
Last December, my family and I went to the mountains. We had lived in a tropical climate all our lives, so it was the first time we could see snow in all its magnificence. As we contemplated the white mantle covering the fields, my husband quoted Isaiah, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow” (Isaiah 1:18).After asking about the meaning of scarlet, our
