Christian Living on Behavior

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Who Determines Your Behavior?

Author

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 12:1, Matthew 5:44, Proverbs 15:1, 1 Peter 3:9, Luke 6:31, Galatians 6:9, Colossians 3:12-13, 1 Corinthians 13:4-5, Genesis 50:20, Philippians 2:3-4, James 1:19-20, 1 Samuel 24:17

Some years ago, the syndicated newspaper columnist Sidney J. Harris shared an interesting anecdote from one of his friends. Each evening, this friend would stop at the same newsstand to buy a newspape...

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Spiritual Formation: Essential to Human Existence

Author

M. Robert Mulholland Jr. and Ruth Haley Barton

Keywords

Scripture

2 Corinthians 3:18, Galatians 2:20, Colossians 1:28, Philippians 2:12-13, 2 Corinthians 4:16, 1 Timothy 64:7-8, Colossians 3:10-11

In their excellent book, Invitation to a Journey , M. Robert Mulholland and Ruth Haley Barton describe the foundation of life as being spiritual in nature. This means we are constantly be “form...

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Author

John Milton

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 5:5, Jeremiah 9:23-24, Galatians 5:19-21, 1 Peter 3:9, Philippians 2:3-4, Romans 12:19, Proverbs 16:18

But what will not Ambition and Revenge Descend to? Who aspires must down as low As high he sor’d, obnoxious first or last To basest things.

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The Self-Destruction of Executives

Author

Stephen W. Smith

Keywords

Scripture

Titus 1:7, Psalm 131:1, Galatians 6:3, Matthew 23:12, Philippians 2:3, James 4:6

In his highly insightful work, Inside Job , Stephen W. Smith shares the sobering truth of what happens to many leaders when they climb the “ladder of success”: The ground at the foot of the ladde...

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Author

Thomas Keating

Keywords

Scripture

James 1:22-25, Philippians 2:3-4, Romans 12:2, Ephesians 4:22-24, Colossians 3:12-14, Galatians 5:22-23, Matthew 25:21

The kingdom of God manifests itself in the modest changes in our attitudes and in the little improvements in our behavior that no one may notice, including ourselves. These are the mighty works of God...

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5 Steps to Handling Strife Within the Church

Author

Mike Kenyon

Keywords

Scripture

James 4:1, Philippians 2:14, 1 Corinthians 14:33, James 1:5

Conflict in Ministry Have you ever whispered to yourself, “I didn’t sign up for this?” I confess those words have passed through my mind more than once over the years. When I started out in ministry...

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Author

Jared C. Wilson

Keywords

Grace

Scripture

Luke 15:11-32, John 21:15-19, Luke 19:1-10, John 8:1-11, Acts 9:1-22, Philippians 2:13

Grace is not simply about pardoning sinful behavior; it’s also about rewiring the sinners themselves. The grace the Bible talks about is power not just for justification but also for transformation.

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Author

George Bernard Shaw

Keywords

Scripture

Proverbs 23:7, Acts 3:19, Isaiah 55:7, 2 Corinthians 10:5, Colossians 3:2, Ephesians 4:23-24, Philippians 2:5

Those who can’t change their minds can’t change anything.

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Author

Steve Stockman

Keywords

Scripture

2 Corinthians 5:17, Mark 2:1-12, Luke 19:1-10, Luke 23:39-43, Titus 2:11-12, Philippians 2:12-13, James 2:17-18

Evangelicals believe they are saved by grace through faith but then add a man-made waiver that you have to work as hard as you can meet middle-class behavioral patterns to hang onto it.

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Author

George MacDonald

Keywords

Scripture

James 1:22, Titus 3:8, Philippians 2:13, Romans 12:2, John 14:15

To hold to a doctrine or an opinion with the intellect alone is not to believe it. A man’s real belief is that which he lives by.

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Discerning Sense of Call By Paying Attention to Our Bodies

Author

Ruth Haley Barton

Keywords

Scripture

2 Timothy 1:9, Ecclesiastes 3:1, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, Psalm 23:3, Philippians 2:13, Romans 12:1-2

As I have worked to clarify my calling, I have learned to pay attention to my energy levels in response to different activities. If I experience a particular activity as being inordinately draining, I...

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Author

Robert Oxton Bolt

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 22:37, Ephesians 4:23-24, Isaiah 26:3, Hebrews 11:1, Colossians 3:2, Philippians 2:5

A belief is not merely an idea the mind possesses; it is an idea that possesses the mind.

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Author

Alexander Pope

Keywords

Scripture

Philippians 2:3, Proverbs 3:5-6, Galatians 6:3, James 3:17, 1 Corinthians 4:5, Matthew 7:1-2

’Tis with our judgments as our watches, none Go just alike, yet each believes his own.

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Compassion for a Bully

Author

Chuck DeGroat

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 5:7, Philippians 2:1-2, James 3:17, Proverbs 17:9, Luke 6:36, 1 Peter 3:8

I love the following story because it illustrates both our natural defensiveness when we are attacked and the potential for transformation. As the illustration demonstrates, this is only possible when...

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Judgment and Joy Don't Go Together

Author

Jacob Traeger

Keywords

Scripture

Philippians 2:14-16, James 5:9, Numbers 14:27, 1 Corinthians 10:10, Luke 5:30, 1 Timothy 2:8, Exodus 15:24, Luke 6:37, Matthew 7:1-5, 1 Corinthians 5:12

Judgment and joy don’t go well together – no, judgment leads to grumbling. I’m sure you’ve met people in your life who are hard to please – maybe even your parents, or your boss. People for whom n...

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The Little Things

Author

Scott Dudley

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 6:25-34, Galatians 5:1, 1 Peter 5:7, Colossians 3:12-13, Isaiah 40:29, Hebrews 12:1, Philippians 2:4

One time, back when I was doing college ministry, I took a group of students camping. My wife came along with us. I had selected this really, really difficult hike. It was about ten miles long and alm...

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Author

Eugene Peterson

Keywords

Scripture

John 1:14, Matthew 9:36, Luke 19:10, John 15:15, Mark 10:45, Philippians 2:5-7, 1 John 4:9-10

The ways Jesus goes about loving and saving the world are personal: nothing disembodied, nothing abstract, nothing impersonal. Incarnate, flesh and blood, relational, particular and local. The ways em...

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Salt Left in the Shaker?

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 5:null, 1 Peter 2:9, Galatians 5:22-23, James 2:17, Romans 12:1, Mark 4:21, Philippians 2:15

Jesus describes his followers as being “salt” and “light” in the world in Matthew 5. When you think about salt, it doesn’t really have a whole lot of value when it’s just sitting in a salt shaker. Si...

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Changing Direction

Author

Fred Rogers

Keywords

Scripture

Philippians 2:3-4, Galatians 6:2, Matthew 20:26-28, 1 John 3:18, 1 Corinthians 12:25-26

There was a story going around about the Special Olympics. For the hundred-yard dash, there were nine contestants, all of them so-called physically or mentally disabled. All nine of them assembled at ...

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Power is for Service

Author

Spiritual Disciplines

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 22:27, Matthew 23:11, Philippians 2:5-7, Galatians 5:13, John 13:14-15, Mark 10:45

The way most of us serve keeps us in control. We choose whom, when, where and how we will serve. We stay in charge. Jesus is calling for something else. He is calling us to be servants. When we make t...

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Studying our Parts

Author

Brian Dembowczyk

Keywords

Scripture

Philippians 2:5, Ephesians 5:1-2, 1 Peter 2:21, Colossians 3:16, 1 John 2:6, John 13:15

Imagine you were cast to play the role of legendary baseball player Babe Ruth in a biography of his life. You could simply follow the script, reading out what is written. How much better, though, to s...

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An Attitude of a Servant

Author

Millard Erickson

Keywords

Scripture

Philippians 2:3, Romans 12:10, Colossians 3:12, Galatians 5:13, 1 Peter 4:10, Matthew 23:11-12

What he [Jesus] was attempting to instill in his disciples was the attitude of a servant: humility and a willingness to put others ahead of oneself. In that culture, washing the feet of others would s...

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Vance Vanders and the Witch Doctor

Author

Timothy R. Jennings

Keywords

Scripture

Jeremiah 29:11, Romans 12:2, Ephesians 4:22-24, Colossians 3:10, Ephesians 3:20, Philippians 2:13, Philippians 4:13, Philippians 4:6-7

In The God-Shaped Brain , Timothy R. Jennings tells a well-attested story about how belief can affect the body. Late one night in a small Alabama cemetery, Vance Vanders had a run-in with the local...

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The Middle Voice

Author

Lauren F. Winner

Keywords

Scripture

Philippians 2:13

One old definition [of the middle voice]… is that the middle is used when a subject is affected by the action of the verb; when the verb somehow transforms, reshapes the subject… It is the middle voic...

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Reducing People to the Madness of a Single Moment

Author

Jonathan K. Dodson

Keywords

Scripture

Proverbs 16:18, Proverbs 11:2, James 4:6, 1 Peter 5:5-6, Philippians 2:3-4, Luke 18:9-14, Matthew 23:1-12

In his thoughtful book, Our Good Crisis: Overcoming Moral Chaos with the Beatitudes , Jonathan K. Dodson points out our blind-spots with respect to pride: We rarely think of ourselves as proud. I...

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Scene Stealing through Pride

Author

Brian Dembowczyk

Keywords

Scripture

John 3:30, Philippians 2:3-4, James 4:6, 1 Peter 5:5-6, Matthew 23:1-12, Galatians 6:14

One of the cardinal rules of improvisational theater is that actors must never steal scenes. In her book Improvisation for the Theater , Viola Spolin bluntly puts it this way: “Any player who ‘st...

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Author

Eric Greitens

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 20:26-28, Micah 6:8, Philippians 2:3, Ephesians 4:2, 1 Peter 5:5, Colossians 3:12, James 4:10

I begin with humility, I act with humility, I end with humility. Humility leads to clarity. Humility leads to an open mind and a forgiving heart. With an open mind and a forgiving heart, I see every p...

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Our Faith

Author

C. S. Lewis

Keywords

Scripture

2 Corinthians 3:18, Galatians 2:20, Romans 8:10, Ephesians 3:16-17, 1 Corinthians 15:49, Ezekiel 36:26, Philippians 2:13, 1 John 4:13, Romans 8:29

Our faith is not a matter of our hearing what Christ said long ago and “trying to carry it out. The real Son of God is at your side. He is beginning to turn you into the same kind of thing as Himself....

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Author

Thomas à Kempis

Keywords

Humility

Scripture

2 Corinthians 4:5, Micah 6:8, 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12, Philippians 2:5-7, Proverbs 27:2, John 3:30

Love to be unknown.

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Ratatouille and Surrendering to God

Author

Casey Clark

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 8:6-11, 1 Corinthians 2:16, Galatians 2:20, Colossians 3:3, Philippians 2:5

When we watch cartoons, it is fun to see the way we can so easily allow some of the craziest stuff to just be taken at face value. Movements that don’t follow the laws of physics? Sure. Talking animal...

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