When we’ve been wounded by the spitefulness of others, it’s grace that quiets our reactive hearts and calms our angry tongues. We remember being forgiven, and so we can imagine offering forgiveness. The grace that reconciled us to God becomes the opening that makes new reconciliations thinkable. The foolish cycle of retaliation need not take anothe…

The great illusion at the heart of our unhappiness is the fantasy that we can solve our brokenness and foolishness. A hundred self-help manuals urge us to discover new, untapped potential; find our core of optimism, rise above the litter of past choices. If even one of these vain remedies really worked, the bookstores would be empty, and people eve…

Sometimes it seems all humanity is obsessed with removing stains from clothing, teeth, and even furniture. Ten thousand products invoke our shame if teeth are not their “whitest white,” if clothes are not their “brightest bright,” or guests discover “unsightly carpet stains.” Some thoughtful souls have wondered if our fascination with removing dirt…

If you believe your life has been rescued and redirected by a power greater than yourself, you live differently. One of the most frequent criticisms of the Bible’s teaching about how we are saved is the charge that because grace saves us “just as we are,” we stay “just as we were.” To some, grace looks easy, unremarkable, even cheap—a gift for thos…

In every place; in every time; among all cultures; with every clan; in youth or age; through wealth or poverty—human beings will underline how what they do unites their lives with God. “It is my prayers,” the homeless woman says. “God saves me because I am persistent.” “It is my giving,” the multi-billionaire asserts. “God saves me because I build …

The mind in which grace lights a flame becomes, in time, a different mind. By nature and by nurture, we’re self-absorbed and focused on what brings us gain, what brings us fame. The path of least resistance leads us to our touted rights, and often—yes—our touted righteousness. We are the measure of all things: we sort and filter for what gives us p…

Could we ever live a day without the grace of God? That first breath you took this morning—perhaps the first one when you awoke—that breath had its beginning in the gracious act of God to fill your lungs and give you life. That first thought, in which you noted the beauty of the early sunlight bathing the yard with golden rays—that thought was the …

There’s no accounting for love. Nothing in our calculations of expected human outcomes would lead us to predict the presence—or persistence—of kindness. We’ve learned through thousands of years of history to grimly rely on the awful realities of hate, of vengeance, of unrelenting cruelty—between clans, against other races, pitting nation against na…

UNEXPECTED KINDNESS There’s no accounting for love. Nothing in our calculations of expected human outcomes would lead us to predict the presence—or persistence—of kindness. We’ve learned through thousands of years of history to grimly rely on the awful realities of hate, of vengeance, of unrelenting cruelty—between clans, against other races, pitti…

What is God like? It sounds like the question of a six-year old—honest; direct; no nuance. Simple as it sounds, it’s actually one of the most important questions in human history. From the dawn of recorded time, both peasants and philosophers have wrestled with the question. Some cultures told themselves that He was angry and all-powerful. Others a…

No one really wants to sing the blues. We only want to hear other people singing the blues. It’s hard to believe that a homeless, hungry, abandoned soul would choose to write a song about it. Surviving takes all your energy. But listening to someone else lamenting their pretended sorrows somehow makes us feel better about our not-so-bad lives. And …

We love our sugary success stories—the sweet and gripping fantasies we hope might someday happen to us. “Mailroom clerk becomes company CEO.” “Out-of-luck waitress wins huge lottery.” “Overlooked teen becomes Hollywood megastar.” We quietly insert our names to secretly imagine the powerful, wealthy, famous life we wish was ours. We live vicariously…

An old gospel hymn plaintively asks the question in the last line of each verse: “Where could I go but to the Lord?” The hymnwriter noted the deep challenges of everyday life in a broken world. He deplored the lack of things he needed to make life even minimally comfortable. He wrestled with the ever-present temptation to give up on God’s call to a…

“That’s old news.” In an information-obsessed world, that may be the ultimate put-down. Round-the clock—and endlessly repetitive—reporting crackles from hundreds of cable television channels. All-news radio stations compete for our ears when screens can’t have our eyes. Newspapers, which for two centuries held the world in thrall, now struggle with…

A mother’s deep affection for her newborn child is completely understandable. The nine months they’ve spent journeying together—and a surge of maternal hormones—create an instant, fierce attraction to that red and wrinkled infant gazing solemnly into her eyes. A young couple’s giddy delight in each other at the wedding altar is completely understan…

What kind of person gets angry when a wretched, broken sinner is restored by the grace of God? Are there really people that selfish? The answer, according to Jesus, is sadly “Yes”—and they sometimes congregate in churches. In Jesus’ famous story, an arrogant younger brother forces his father to liquidate the family holdings to fund his portion of t…

It’s usually said with a cynical smile and an eye roll: “My good deed did not go unpunished.” And it nicely sums up the exasperation we feel when life doesn’t seem fair, when hard work isn’t rewarded, when doing the right thing brings only more trouble and heartache. But what if the more accurate summary of our lives was actually the inverse: “My b…

These hours between midnight and dawn test the patience of the world. We stumble through the hallways of dark houses. We seek companionship in all-night TV channels and books that used to put us to sleep. We hide from pain or grief that won’t let us close our eyes. Why must dawn wait? Why must the hope of day stretch out so far away? If we could, w…

Fast-forward, if you can, to scenes our hearts are aching to be in. Redeemed at last from all the brokenness, the pettiness, the pain of earthly life, we stand before the throne with those from every nation, tribe, and people, breathing in the air of heaven and singing at the top of our lungs, “Salvation belongs to our God” (Rev 7:10). Does even on…

It’s a pandemic for the ages. Even though we’re more “connected” than ever, a tidal wave of loneliness has washed around the world. Eight billion cell phones aren’t enough if people talk to fewer friends, never share a walk or meal, or leave important things unsaid. Our bodies and our minds insist that we be with someone. And so the first name give…

We are wary for good reasons. We’ve had too much of hurt, of wounds, of promises that didn’t deliver. Nothing “too good to be true” should ever be believed. But grace presents us with impossibly good things—all backed up by the God who cannot lie and never exaggerates. “As far as the east is from the west, so far He removes our transgressions from …

It takes a lot to surprise the authors of the Bible. In the pages of Scripture, we find unflinchingly honest stories about every kind of failing—adultery, murder, cruelty, abuse. Nothing human is foreign to them. But they were startled—even shocked—at the undeserved and unexpected mercy of God for broken people like us. Listen to Paul: “Now, most p…

When warm light floods the living room and laughter visits along with friends, we bless the grace of God for making all our good days better. But when the rain slants heavily across our midnight loneliness, is grace still real? Is God still good? The greatest saints this world has known are full unanimous on this: God’s grace is undiminished by the…

A century ago, the poet wept: “Things fall apart. The centre cannot hold.” And after greater blood and anarchy, who dares to argue with him? Pollyannas need not apply. And yet, sweet children are still softly kissed before they dream each night. Young lovers stroll and plan for lives that still unfold. The vendor at the corner store still offers us…

Name any virtue dear to you, and there’s one grace behind it. Even the Bible’s best-known virtues— “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Gal 5:22-23)—grow from one even more remarkable quality: humility. Love means putting others before ourselves; joy is joining in another’s glee. Peace emerge…

When we were children, practicing was frequently the bane of our existence. Endless loops of cursive handwriting; sticky valves on rented clarinets; stubborn keyboard ivories that mocked our stubby fingers. Practicing brought little joy as we outlasted clocks. But then, perhaps, we found some sweet proficiency—some pleasing skill still short of smo…

When all our boasts are at an end; when no one’s left we might impress; when all our tales of make believe have not made anyone believe—we stare into the mirror that reveals our brokenness and pain. Hard as it is, this is the moment richer life begins. Reduced by circumstance and time to being honest with ourselves, we reach for help we cannot give…

I sing the solo grace “that saved a wretch like me,”—and so I should. Without it, I would be forever lost and never found. But grace is more than what God does for me, though there may never be a hymn to fully capture that. Grace is the Spirit moving in a hundred hearts when reconciliation is proclaimed from pulpits or on hillsides. “For there is n…

The finest things that we can say are sometimes framed as negatives. Here’s one: “Love never gives up, never loses faith” (1 Cor 13:8). That’s why we celebrate what the Bible so often calls God’s “steadfast love”—His unchanging, unyielding, untiring affection for every human being. He doesn’t warm to us when we are nice on sunny Tuesdays—or grow re…

Make covenants, not resolutions, as you walk into the year, for covenants give us company in keeping what we pledge. A resolution with no witness is too often just a wish, a good intention with nothing but our declining willpower to make the vital difference. The covenants we really need are bigger than our diets and more urgent than our visits to …

Each year, as New Year’s Day arrives, believers wrestle quietly with one of the Apostle Paul’s most puzzling assertions: “One thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal” (Phil 3:13-14). How—exactly—is it possible to “forget what lies behind”? The year just lived was full of slights a…

It’s the most frequently portrayed scene in all of human history. Four-year olds sketch out the wise men, sheep, and cattle. Sculptors craft three human figures beneath a simple roof, and we fill in the rest. Churches erect elaborate crèches, some with anxious animals, some with freezing actors. Billions of gilded Christmas cards imagine this one m…

Our fascination with the stars is as old as . . . one gorgeous night in Eden. As darkness first descended on God’s rich, untrammeled world, there was no fear, no threat, no shying from the shadows. A dazzling panoply of stars entranced the first two humans ever subject to their brilliance, mystery, and power. We name the stars to tame them—just to …

It’s a tough time to be selling “Peace on Earth.” In the Christmas Shoppe at the megastore, elves and reindeer move briskly out the door. Nativity scenes in warm pastels are inner-lit with bulbs and cheer. Miles and miles of twinkling lights unwind from endless shelves. But who is buying “Peace on Earth?” At first, it seems a quaint anachronism, ha…

It’s a story filled with angels, and so a story filled with grace. An angel reveals to an aged priest that his wife will bear a son named John. The angel Gabriel announces to a virgin that she will be the mother of the promised Messiah, whose very name announces our salvation. Her fiancé—like Joseph of old, a man of dreams—is counseled by an angel …

“If you would tell me, tell me true,” a wise old man once said. “There isn’t time enough for lies.” And when we’ve polished all our trophies, and sung again our victory songs, we come at last to stories too painful to be false. Each honest story unwraps our wounds, our hurts—as well as those we’ve given. We grieve the loved ones whom we’ve lost—a s…

We are wary for good reasons. We’ve had too much of hurt, of wounds, of promises that didn’t deliver. Nothing “too good to be true” should ever be believed. But grace presents us with impossibly good things—all backed up by the God who cannot lie and never exaggerates. “As far as the east is from the west, so far He removes our transgressions from …

Where does kindness come from? Nothing in the narrative of evolutionary biology can tell us why one human would act with compassion or thoughtfulness toward another. In a world where survival alone is supposed to be the highest goal, nothing disinterested happens. All human behaviors should only produce results for the one doing them. Yet kindness …

How do you find a quiet heart? You won’t find it in a deep evergreen forest, though walking in the fragrant woods may give you time to think. You won’t find it beside a thundering waterfall, though the welcome sound may block the din of autos, trains, and planes. You won’t even find that quiet heart in the sanctuary of a silent church, though every…

I bless them all—the friends who didn’t back away when I said clumsy, foolish things, or added insult to an injury. I bless the ones who held me in the grip of grace before I had an inkling they were doing anything at all. I call to mind the line of kind, consistent people who forgave before I knew how much I had offended, who didn’t hold my sins a…

“I don’t deserve this.” It’s a sentiment uttered—muttered—millions of times a day around the world. Our deep, unyielding sense of justice is aroused each time we aren’t treated fairly by a spouse or colleague, when we get unexpected charges from the tax office, when we think that God or fate has given us more than we can bear. Deep in our souls, we…

More than 50 years ago, a wildly popular book and movie gave us a proverb worth forgetting: “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” Despite its commercial success, the line ignores the undeniable reality that broken human beings are always needing to repair the relationships they care most about—and usually with the words, “I’m sorry.” For l…

So, what’s the most valuable commodity in the world? If you picked silver, gold, or platinum, 10,000 brokers might seek your business. If you chose palladium or rhodium, you know your precious metals well. But none of these—nor all of them—can light a dream or spark a prayer when fear and pain fill all our night. There’s just one thing that billion…

When we tell our peers the stories of our lives, how do we shape the narratives? Do we tell tales of high achievement, dogged persistence, and clever strategy? Are we the heroes of our stories? Or do we speak of the persistent, generous grace of God that launched us with rich opportunities, forgave us when we repeatedly failed, and healed us—time a…

If there’s one thing that heaven hates, why surely, it must be—adultery? Pride? Hypocrisy? Murder? Greed? Would you believe “unforgiveness”? Consistent with the grace He both lived and taught, Jesus saved His hardest words for those who refused to forgive the brokenness of others. He wept for those swept off their feet by lust or overcome by avaric…

“Lucky you!” we mumble when our rival’s putt drops in the cup from 50 feet away. “Wish I was you,” we grumble when our colleague lands the big promotion and the corner office with a view. “It must be nice,” we mutter when the car we can’t afford is parked across the street each night. But who is actually more fortunate—the one who wins a round of g…

Any faith worth putting at the center of your life must do at least three things. It must accurately describe the dark reality of our brokenness and pain. It must fully tell how we are rescued from our anger, pride and violence. It must show us a future we would want to live in. And so the gospel of Jesus Christ declares, “Once you were dead becaus…

Until we grasp how much we’ve been forgiven, it will always seem unwise and difficult to forgive those who sin against us. When we forgive another person, we abandon our leverage over them; release the debt they owe us; throw open prison doors. This is a graciousness we can’t summon from within: until we’ve received God’s grace, we have none to giv…

Imagine—only for a moment—your life without the grace of God. Every foolish act of adolescence; every spiteful, angry word you’ve said; every broken relationship would trail after you like dragging cannonballs uphill. There could be no forgiveness, but only possibly forgetfulness. All things wounded would never heal. The sun would never rise on fai…

A husband slipping in the door with a bouquet of red roses trailing behind him. A six year-old artfully arranging the remaining cookies in the jar to make it seem none have been taken. A believer creeping quietly to church to sit in the back row and promise years of future faithfulness. In our core, we hope to somehow appease those we have offended…