Courage Courage is the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees all others. (Winston Churchill, late British prime minister) Courage may be demonstrated by a soldier in a dangerous war situation. But it is also a quality that can and should...
Wanting to Be Liked What happens when you are obsessed with getting people to like you? (David Powlison, late counselor and editor) That’s a very important question, and Powlison offers a thought-provoking answer: “You become flirtatious or artificial, a coward or a...
Change You don’t need a new year to make a change. You only need a new day. (Chris Suitt, minister) Do you remember your New Year’s Resolutions? If so, you’re probably one in a million. We easily forget our good intentions, most often in just a few days in January...
Pride Pride is the worst viper in the heart. It is the first sin that ever entered into the universe. (Jonathan Edwards, 18th century American revivalist) What is it that makes us think we have better judgment than someone else? Is it because we’re more informed or...
Becoming #1 The most important thing in your life is not what you do; it’s who you become. (Dallas Willard, retired philosophy professor) When we meet someone new, one of our very first questions often is “And what do you do (for a living)?” It always seems important...
Moving Ahead The great thing in this world is not so much where you stand, as in what direction you are moving. (Oliver Wendell Holmes, 19th century physician and poet) We might think more strongly than Holmes about the importance of where you stand, but we can...
Creativity Creativity is piercing the mundane to find the marvelous. (Bill Moyers, American journalist) It’s fascinating to watch an artist at work. He or she may be chiseling a piece of what looks like ordinary rock or welding a sheet of metal. Yet the artist sees...
Growth Providence is best seen in retrospect. (James Emory White, pastor and author) Some people see the events of life as just good luck. For the Christian, providence is “God conceived as the power sustaining and guiding human destiny.” For almost everyone, life is...
Suffering Suffering is a mystery that demands a presence. (John Watt, pediatrician) Watt’s full statement: “Suffering is not a question which demands an answer; it is not a problem which requires a solution, it is a mystery that demands a presence.” When we suffer, we...
Encouragement Be kind. For everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. (Ian MacLaren, pen name of John Watson, 20th century Scottish minister) It’s so easy to make snap judgments about other people. When someone speaks rudely to us or pushes in...
At Heart The line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. (Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, late Soviet dissident and novelist) It’s an idea that many people want to refute or ignore. We really don’t want to think that anything evil could ever be in...
Just Do It Better to do something imperfectly than to do nothing flawlessly. (Robert Schuler, late pastor) Motivation speaker Kary Oberbrunner says, “Perfectionism is just fear in disguise.” Such fear may well result in a lack of effort, an unwillingness to do...