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The following exercise was developed to help someone who sought help to deal with bitterness in her marriage. Hopefully you can glean biblical principles and insights for your heart as you seek to grow in your love for God and love for others. A. WHERE TO BEGIN 1. Continue your own, personal pursuit of the LORD. as you grow in your love for the LORD, you will grow in your obedience. 2. Study the Gospel of John chapters 12-17; note how your obedience is motivated & enabled by your love for Christ & abiding in Christ and His love for you. 3. When your focus is on Christ’s love for you, when His Word is dwelling in you richly (Col. 3:16), your growing love will produce obedience (Jn. 14:23) and will either prevent bitterness or dispel it (compare Eph. 4:22-24 & 4:31). B. PREVENTING BITTERNESS 1. Each night before you go to bed, ask the LORD, “Are there any 'logs' that I need to deal with from today? (Mt. 7:1-5), confess your sin(s) to God and each other. 2. Then, ask...

Image from https://kristusjezis.cz There is a push to ask questions on the relationship of culture to sexuality and lust. Statements like, "God made my body, why shouldn't I and others love it," "Aren't we just animals anyway," and "How can this be wrong when it is accepted in so many other places in the world" are now common place and with them is the overarching idea that modesty and purity are based, not upon absolute truth, but instead on cultural subjective norms. To this thinking we look today. The human body, like all creation, was created perfect by God (Gen 1:31). However, sin did mar that greatly. The misguided premise has been made by some that clothing is a result of the fall and man should pursue a pure view of the body rather than seeking to cover it. This, however, is based on a false notion. While man takes fig leaves and recognizes his shame and need for covering, he is not the only one who clothes himself. G...

On December 11 and 18 (both Sundays), I will be leading a two-part Gospel Institute class/discussion called Parenting and Sexuality in the Washington library from 10:30-11:45am. I'd love for you to join me. This class is for those with teens or those who are preparing to be parents of teens and will cover topics like helping our kids see a higher joy as they mature, resources for parents, gospel-centered tech use, and how our marriages can help shape our kids' view of sexuality.  I was reviewing my notes and found something I have quoted in the class that I wanted to share. The quote is from Matt Smethurst on an post he made on the Gospel Coalition site and can be found here .  "I think it's a series of conversations beginning around puberty where we help them see that their new desires for romantic and sexual intimac y can either lead them into sin or lead them to greater fellowship with Christ and (possibly) to a future spouse. The self-control we hope our children ...