Month: February 2024

By Rick Warren – Source: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.” Luke 5:6 (NIV)

If you’ve ever felt discouraged with your work, you’re in good company. Maybe you’re worn out from overwork. Maybe you’ve put your heart and soul into a project, and it simply failed.

We’ve all faced similar setbacks in life. But it’s what happens after the setback that is truly important.

Just ask Simon Peter.

He was a fisherman by trade. One day he and his fellow fishermen were washing their nets after spending the whole night fishing—and catching nothing. When they didn’t catch fish, they didn’t make money. No doubt they were discouraged and tired.

And then Jesus came along and did the impossible.

He told Simon Peter: “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch” (Luke 5:4 NIV).

Simon Peter’s response was typical of someone who’s frustrated: “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything” (Luke 5:5 NIV).

We’ve all hit that stage. We’ve given our work our best shot and come up empty. We’ve done everything right—and we may even believe God led us to do what we’re doing—but we have nothing to show for it.

We’re ready to give up.

But then Jesus shows up. He reveals how he’s been working in your life, doing things you haven’t been able to see until now. He meets your needs. He redeems a bad situation.

And he proves he is Lord over everything.

Simon Peter and his companions obeyed Jesus’ instructions, and “when they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break” (Luke 5:6 NIV).

Not only did they catch enough fish for themselves, but God also gave them enough to share with other fishermen.

When Jesus joined their efforts, they caught more fish in 10 minutes than they had in the previous 10 hours. God turned a setback into a comeback.

You may be frustrated because of setback after setback in your life. You’re tired and discouraged, wondering if things can ever get back on track. And you can empathize with Simon Peter’s frustration.

But your comeback may be just around the corner.

Even if you can’t see it yet, God is working in your life, transforming bad into good, turning your setback into a comeback.

By Rick Warren – Soucr: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.” 1 Corinthians 13:7 (NLT)

Lasting love is persistent. It is determined. It is diligent. It is resolute. It endures the worst and doesn’t give up on a relationship. It’s stubborn!

The purpose of a relationship is not just to make you happy but also to make you holy. Relationships—whether with a spouse or child or even a close friend—teach you to think of others more than you think of yourself. As you persevere with them through difficult times, you will learn certain things that you would never learn any other way.

When my wife and I got married, we discovered that we were complete opposites. We started arguing on our wedding night, and from there, it just got worse. We loved each other, but we did not get along.

But we had made a vow, and we decided divorce was not an option. We said, “We’re going to make this thing work if it kills us”—and it nearly did! We got counseling, even though we were broke. We sacrificed so that we could honor our commitment to each other. We grew up. We struggled for the first two years of our marriage, but we became better through it.

Maybe you need to hear this today: Don’t give up. Keep on. Persevere. Be stubborn. Don’t let go of God’s gift of lasting love because you have to work for it. It will always be worth the fight.

Learning to love is the single greatest lesson in life. It is why God put you on this planet. But it’s not always easy—and it’s just plain hard to love some people.

There really isn’t a “secret” to lasting love. The key, however, is to let God’s love flow through you.

Philippians 2:5 says, “You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had” (NLT). Human love wears out. But having Jesus’ love in you lets you offer lasting love to others.

Open your life to him—and then let him love others through you.

By Rick Warren – Source: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“Love . . . always looks for the best.” 1 Corinthians 13:7 (MSG)

When you have high expectations of someone, you don’t tell it like it is. You tell it like it could be. What does that mean? It’s means you believe in what God wants to do in and through that person, and you affirm God’s purpose for them.

An excellent example of how this works is a story from Bruce Wilkinson, an author and teacher. Years ago, he was a new professor at Multnomah University, and at the first faculty meeting, he received his class assignments. Another professor saw his sheet and said, “Bruce, you’ve been given two of the section A classes. They’re the brightest students in the university. They’re really engaged and a joy to teach. You’re fortunate to have section A students in your first year.”

Bruce discovered that to be true—he absolutely loved teaching those kids. They were so much more fun to teach than the other classes. They were smarter and asked better questions.

At the end of the year, Bruce told his department supervisor, “Man, I sure hope I get the section A classes again next year!” The supervisor told him, “Bruce, there is no section A. We canceled that program six years ago.”

When Bruce went back and checked his grade books, he found that those “section A” classes may not have been advanced placement, but they received higher grades and wrote more thoughtful term papers than his other classes. Bruce realized—because he expected them to be better students—they rose to the challenge.

Throughout your life, you will shape the people around you by your expectations of them. When you expect the best from others, you are reflecting the lasting love of Jesus.

The Bible says that love does not nag or perpetually bring up past mistakes. The apostle Paul said it this way: “Love . . . always looks for the best” (1 Corinthians 13:7 MSG). Lasting love is forward-looking. It’s optimistic.

Lasting love is full of hope.

By Rick Warren – Source: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.” Ephesians 4:2 (NLT)

No relationship will survive without grace. You’ve got to cut people some slack! You’ve got to let things go.

The Bible says, “Love patiently accepts all things” (1 Corinthians 13:7 NCV). In the original Greek, this literally means “covered with a roof.” Would you buy a house without a roof? Of course not. You’d have no protection from wind and rain. A roof covers and protects your home.

In the same way, biblical love covers a relationship and lets some things slide. It doesn’t hold people accountable for every little mistake they make. You need a roof on your relationship, because people damage pretty easily, and we need the kind of love that extends grace.

Why is grace essential to relationships?

Because we are all sinners. If you’re married, you married a sinner—and your spouse did too! Two imperfect spouses will never make a perfect marriage. And it’s the same way in friendships. No friendship is perfect—because no friend is perfect! Two imperfect people will never create a perfect relationship.

The Bible says in Romans 3:10, “There is no one who always does what is right, not even one” (NCV). Nobody gets it right 100 percent of the time. It’s never just one person’s fault. We all make mistakes, and there’s always responsibility on both sides. The saying goes, “It takes two to tango.” It also takes two to disagree!

That’s why the Bible says we have to learn to extend grace to each other. Forgiveness is a two-way street. We cannot receive what we’re unwilling to give to other people.

You build strong relationships by treating other people the way God treats you. Romans 15:7 says, “Accept each other just as Christ has accepted you” (NLT). Accepting others may look like listening without judging to a friend or giving space to a tired, grumpy family member.

When you accept others as they are, looking past their faults for the sake of love, that’s extending grace.

By Rick Warren – Source: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that.” Ephesians 5:2 (MSG)

I’ve been on this earth for a while now, and I’m still convicted by God about how little I really know about love. The fact is, we all have a lot of growing to do as we continue maturing in God’s love.

So how do you build a life of real, deep love? You’ll spend the rest of your life trying to live out the answer. But I can give you some steps to get you out of the starting block—five things you can do this week that will help you get on the road to becoming a person of great love.

Learn how mature love acts and responds. Personal change always begins with a change in perspective. You need to get God’s perspective on what love is really like, because the world knows nothing about real, deep love. You gain that perspective by getting into God’s Word.

Start your day with a daily reminder to love. The first 10 minutes of the day set your mood for the rest of the day. Resolve to get up in the morning and say, “God, help me to remember that the most important thing is loving you and loving other people. If I don’t get anything else done today besides loving you and the people that you put around me, then this has not been a wasted day.”

Memorize what God says about love. God’s Word is filled with truths and principles on how to become a loving person. The problem is, when you’re in a situation where you’re tempted to be unloving, your Bible is usually at home on a shelf. That’s why you need to memorize Scripture, so that God can bring verses to mind when you need them the most.

Practice acting in unselfish, loving ways. Love is like a muscle. The more you use it, the more it develops. If you want to become a truly loving person, then you have to intentionally do some things that may seem awkward at first. But the more you practice, the more love becomes second nature, and you become a genuinely loving person.

Get support from other loving people. If you’re just sitting in your room and reading a book, then you’re not going to get very far in learning how to love. You only learn love in connection to others, in the context of community. That’s one of the reasons why a small group is so important! It puts you in situations where you can grow, as you see godly love modeled for you and as you practice serving others in unselfish, loving ways.

You’ll never learn to love by just sitting in solitude. You’ll learn love in relationship with God and with other people.

By Rick Warren – Source: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“Whatever is in your heart determines what you say.” Matthew 12:34 (NLT)

How does God help you with a bad habit of anger? He goes straight to the heart of the problem because it is a problem in the heart.

Anger doesn’t start in your behavior, your background, or your feelings. It begins in the heart.

The Bible says, “Whatever is in your heart determines what you say” (Matthew 12:34 NLT). Our mouths just reveal what we’re really like inside. Sometimes I hear people say something really mean or unkind, and then they say, “Oh, I don’t know what got into me. That’s not like me.”

Oh, yes it is! Your mouth just reveals what’s in your heart. Someone’s harsh tongue reveals an angry heart. When you meet somebody with a negative tongue, you know he’s got a fearful heart. A boasting tongue reveals an insecure heart. A judgmental tongue exposes a guilty heart. And a filthy tongue represents an impure heart.

On the other hand, if you find somebody who’s always encouraging others, she has a happy heart. If he’s always speaking in a gentle way, you know he’s got a loving heart. If she’s able to control her words, you know she’s got a peaceful heart.

Are you satisfied with the words that naturally come out of your mouth? If not, then you need a heart transplant. You need a new heart! David says in Psalm 51:10, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me” (NIV).

The real secret to managing anger is God’s power to change you on the inside. Romans 15:5 says, “May the patience and encouragement that come from God allow you to live in harmony with each other the way Christ Jesus wants” (NCV).

If your heart is crying out, it’s because you haven’t ever fully received the warmth and security of a relationship with Jesus Christ. Jesus can replace a hurting heart with his love. He cares about your pain, and he will help you heal so that your words give life and reveal the hope you have in Christ.