Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly father is perfect. — Matthew 5:48. As a young boy, this verse gave me a lot of trouble, and in many ways, it still does. I knew then that I wasn’t perfect, hardly even close. The best I ever got was kind of “good,” with a lot of fudging. How…

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Therefore, let us celebrate the festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and evil, but the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.  1 Corinthians 5:8. This morning I spent quite a bit of time writing about St. Paul’s words and their applicability to today when I struck the wrong key and they…

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“Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy not sacrifice.’” — Matthew 9:13 When I first encountered this verse, I was puzzled. What did Jesus mean by this seemingly contradictory statement? But as I reflected, I remembered a crucial lesson: the importance of context over mere content. Jesus wasn’t introducing a new idea; he…

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When it comes to personal growth, it’s easy to get caught up in the pursuit of outcomes. We set ambitious goals, chase achievements, and seek external validation, believing these things will lead to a more fulfilling life. But as James Clear wisely points out in Atomic Habits, the real power lies in shifting our focus…

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In the same way, let your light shine before others.… Matthew 5:16. It’s been over fifteen years since we moved from DC to Charlotte, so when we moved this time only a mile away I had forgotten that the bane of all moves are lamps. They require big boxes, lots of wrapping paper, and of…

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