stephen-on-bible

If you ask the personality developers, motivational speakers and many counselors of our time, "What is the important commandment of life?" many would perhaps say, "Love yourself". The Most Important Commandment When Jesus was asked, "What is the most important commandment?", He didn’t say, "Love yourself." Instead, He said, " Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these" (Mark 12:30-31). It is worth noting the ending words of verse 31: " There is no commandment greater than these." The most important and joyful thing on the face of the earth is to love God with our whole being, the Maker of the heavens and the earth. And in loving Him, love our neighbour as ourself. 'Love Yourself' or 'As Yourself' Now many suppose that Jesus gave a co...

Dr. Larry Crabb is one of the highly respected counselors of our day, writing extensively on the core issues of man’s needs and guiding many to find satisfaction in their Maker. He is an author who won my eyes, whose books I blindly recommend to read. Recently, I was reading a portion, from his well-written book, Inside Out . In this Gold Medallion Award-winning classic, he writes, “not everyone is involved in flagrant sin.” Many Christians do not commit horrible sins as such. They basically live honorable and decent lives. But as good as they maybe, there is a sin in which they easily fall and remain unaware of its disastrous work, which Larry calls, “The Sin of Self-Protection.” What does it mean? It certainly does not mean protecting oneself from physical assault. Larry describes, “The sin of self-protection to which I refer occurs when our legitimate thirst for receiving love creates a demand to not be hurt that overrides a commitment to lovingly involve ourself with others.” I ca...

“And now I will show you the most excellent way” (1 Cor. 12:31). Ever since I became a Christian, I often heard five important steps on how to grow in spiritual life. It has been emphasized that this is how one can excel towards spiritual maturity. The five steps are – prayer, bible study, church fellowship, tithing and witnessing. However, it was later I happened to learn that one could practice all these things and yet live an unspiritual and immature life. As important as they are, nowhere in the Holy Scripture do we find that these are the signs of spiritual maturity. What then is the sign of spiritual maturity? The Important Ingredient These days the Lord has been drawing my attention to ponder over the most significant ingredient of my life and ministry. It is something without which I cannot become spiritually mature. He has shown me how greatly I am missing and neglecting it in my life. I was convicted that my Christian life is shallow, my spirituality is a sham, my preaching i...