Submitting means putting others before yourself; it means not always doing what you want to do.
Christian submission is not an act of human will. It is divine work. We can submit to God’s authorities and His will only through the power of the Holy Spirit. Christ imputes his righteousness to believers so the work of submission is faith.
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The fruit of the Spirit is love. (Galatians 5:22)
August 12, 2025
Becky Sweat
Sometimes the differences we see in people are not just varying personalities, but behavior that goes against God’s laws. Now, sometimes people sin willfully, but that’s not what I’m addressing here. Rather, we might have friends who are generally striving to live God’s way of life, yet they’re doing something that is contrary to biblical teachings, which they don’t seem to be aware of. They might not even realize how they’re hurting themselves or others. 
In that situation, we need to be willing to go to them with our concerns (Galatians 6:1, Matthew 18:15). Once we’ve done that, we should allow them the time they need to change their ways.
We should be supportive and patient with other people as they go through their Christian journeys and God helps them see the flaws they need to work on. This includes not overreacting or harshly judging them for their offenses, and not gossiping about their faults.
This is a teaching echoed throughout the Bible. We’re instructed to “Make allowance for each other’s faults” (Colossians 3:13, NLT), “Uphold the weak” and “Be patient with all” (1 Thessalonians 5:14), and with longsuffering, to be “bearing with one another in love”
(Ephesians 4:2). When we’re patient with others as they struggle to overcome their shortcomings, it strengthens our connections with them as they will be able to tell we want what’s best for them, that we’re not going to give up on them, and we’re committed to the relationships.
August 12, 2025
Becky Sweat
The first part of Romans 12:15 says to “rejoice with those who rejoice.” Truth be told, we’re not always inclined to do this. Many times in our dog-eat-dog world, people find themselves competing with friends, sinking to envy if a companion one-ups them. But there’s no way two people can be close if one is jealous of the other.
In a strong, healthy relationship, friends rejoice in each other’s achievements, successes and blessings. There’s no rivalry, envy, comparisons between them, or one person trying to out-do the other. 
Each person wants the other to do well, even if it means being outshone. Good friends find true happiness in each other’s happiness, always cheer
ing the other on to do his or her very best. That includes when your friend gets the job promotion you wanted, goes on a luxurious vacation you could never afford, or is accepted to the college you couldn’t get into.
We need to remind ourselves that as wonderful as these achievements are, what’s most important is that we’re the kind of people who want to build up others and cheer them on to success (as we’re told to do in 1 Thessalonians 5:11), even if that means they’re going to pass us up. Doing so strengthens our relationships, and it’s also the kind of character God wants to see in us.
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August 12, 2025 Becky Sweat Genesis 2:18 states, “it is not good that the man should be alone.” It’s clear that God designed us to need companionship. For that reason alone, we should make time in our busy schedules to build and maintain friendships. We’ll never be able to achieve truly close connections with other people if we don’t regularly spend time with them. As busy as most of us are, that can be a challenge. Still, it can be done. We just need to be more intentional about making it happen. <img class="alignright" src="https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/b/make-new-friends-calendar-make-new-friends-calendar-background-386111018.jpg" alt="" width="389" height="292" /> That means getting out your calendar and planning times when you can get together with friends, whether that’s to share a meal or an activity like a game of pickleball, or just meeting for coffee. With out-of-town friends, I schedule “phone dates” with them. I’ve found that just one in-depth phone conversation every couple of months can go a long way in maintaining a close connection. If you can’t find time in your schedule for friend time, reevaluate your commitments to make some openings in your calendar. If you spend multiple hours a day on social media, you might replace some of that time with face-to-face socializing. Another idea is to do some of the routine tasks and activities that you have to do, such as grocery shopping or working out at the gym, with a friend. You can chat and catch up while the two of you are getting something done. -
Casey B. Hough
Updated Aug 07, 2026
In keeping with the last warning, we conclude by reflecting upon our need to humble ourselves before God.
Philippians 2:3 instructs us to “do nothing that is motivated by selfishness,” but rather in “humility consider others as more important.”
In the same manner, James 4:7 and 10 teach us of our need to “submit to God” and “humble ourselves before Him” so that we might be “exalted by the Lord.”
1 Peter 5:5-6 echoes the same instruction with the promise that God “gives grace to the humble.”
No matter what situation we find ourselves in, the right response is always humility before God.
We cannot and must not exalt ourselves.
If God desires such exaltation for us, it is up to him.
Our responsibility it so be humble before our God.
Sacred Dawn
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153 views
Jul 23, 2026
He lived nine hundred and sixty-nine years.
No one in scripture lived longer.
And his father gave him a name that reads less like a blessing than a warning:
Methuselah — when he is gone, it shall be sent.
Genesis gives him four verses.
Four verses for the longest life ever recorded, and not one word of explanation.
This film is the rest of it.
THE ARITHMETIC NOBODY POINTS AT
The strangest thing about Methuselah is not how long he lived.
It is when he stopped. Genesis 5 says he was one hundred and eighty-seven when his son Lamech was born, and that Lamech was one hundred and eighty-two when Noah was born, which makes Methuselah three hundred and sixty-nine years old the year Noah came into the world.
Genesis 7 says Noah was six hundred when the waters came.
Three hundred and sixty-nine, and six hundred, is nine hundred and sixty-nine.
The oldest man who ever lived died in the year of the flood.
The text does not draw attention to it.
It simply lets the numbers sit in two different chapters and waits for someone to add them up.
Not only was I unaware of my need for healing, I’d worked hard at forgetting my past. But as God gently pursued me with His love, I realized that before I could let go of my past, I had to face it.
It didn’t happen overnight. It was a process. And it started with surrendering my past to Him and trusting Him enough to do the next thing He asked me to do — like telling someone.
Bringing my secret out into the open was the hardest step. But in doing so, God’s truth exposed the lies and set me free.
Facing my hurts allowed Him to heal my wounds and grieve the losses I’d experienced.
Other steps included writing my sexual history list and praying for Him to dissolve those past bonds I’d created, allowing me to bond completely with my husband.
I don’t know what your story is, but God does.
He knows what needs healing and the past bonds you need to break.
He’ll lead you step by step as you surrender to Him.
Don’t believe the lie that your past disqualifies you from having God’s best for your future.
Because it’s not true!
Regardless of what’s happened in your past — whether from your own choices or of others’ forced on you — God can and will heal you.
You can keep the past from following you into marriage and robbing you of the intimate bond God desires for you.
I know, because He’s done it for me and countless others.
And He wants to do it for you.
He’s just waiting for you to ask.
Casey B. Hough
Updated Aug 07, 2026
As Christians work by faith to resist the devil, they need not regard him too highly.
The Christian’s highest allegiance must be to God and God alone. This is why the author of Hebrews warns his audience to “serve the Lord in fear and awe” (Hebrews 12:28).
Just like a child should have a healthy fear of the discipline of their parents, it is right and good to have a healthy fear of their Heavenly Father.
We, like the Christians in Philippi, have been called by God to work out our salvation in “fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12) before God, who is the Author and Finisher of our faith.
Casey B. Hough
Updated Aug 07, 2026
James 4:7 instructs Christians to “resist the devil” so that he will “flee from you.”
While some may be reluctant to consciously resist the devil, the truth remains that the devil is like “a roaring lion, prowling around seeking to destroy us” (1 Peter 5:8).
One of the worse things that a Christian can do is ignore the threat that the devil poses to them.
They must resist the devil and “draw near to God.”
