The Next Step: Following Wherever God Leads You

I was camping once as a boy and—all by myself—had to get from a lodge to the cabin where my family was staying.

It was a foggy night and pitch dark in the woods far from civilization. My only light came from my flashlight.

I vividly recall picking my way down the path. In the falling mist, my flashlight illuminated only a few feet ahead of me at a time. I would watch my feet and try to keep from moving off the narrow dirt trail into the brush on either side. [Read more…]

The Key to a Great Marriage

Don’t just seek the Spirit’s influence in your own life; also look for a mate who is living in that same influence.

You already know that Christians are not supposed to marry unbelievers (2 Corinthians 6:14-15). But that’s just a minimal standard. [Read more…]

Help Is on the Way

We’ve got some bad news for you. After encouraging you to be ready for God’s best, it is our sad duty to inform you that you are incapable of getting yourself ready for God’s best in marriage—or in any other area of your life, for that matter. You just can’t do it. You don’t have it in you. Sorry.

We really mean it; you’re incapable of this. And so are we. And so is everybody else you’re going to meet today. But there is Someone who is capable of making you ready for God’s best, as you cooperate with this particular Someone. We’re talking about the Holy Spirit. [Read more…]

What Do You Set Your Mind On?

Our lives consist of a continuous stream of choices that we must make, and many of our choices can impact our lives in lasting ways.

A worldly mindset (believing what the world teaches) can only lead to worldliness in our actions, and the consequences that follow. We are bombarded every day through television, the news, the Internet, all kinds of advertising and even some of our friends and relatives with worldly messages that are in direct conflict with what God teaches us.

But the Bible teaches us in Romans 12:2, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

So, how do you get a biblical worldview?  [Read more…]

What Does It Mean to Be the Right Person?

That’s the key, isn’t it? If we’re saying that being ready to meet the right person depends on being the right person, what does that really consist of? Here’s our definition: Being the right person means living out God’s purpose for your life.

This is where being a follower of Christ is so radically different from being an unbeliever. The world says, “Be your own man (or woman). Live life your way. Decide what you want and go for it.” Is that what God wants from us? [Read more…]

Dealing with Disappointment

Dealing with DisappointmentHow did you picture the future when you were six, 10 or 14 years old?  It’s a good bet that that picture looks very little like your life today.   As we mature and our talents and interests grow and change, we realize that many of our former goals and desires have moved to the background or out of the picture altogether.  It’s easy to look back and laugh at how unrealistic or even silly some of them were.

But when it comes to a dream of marriage, you may be not laughing.   [Read more…]