Month: December 2024

By Rick Warren – Source: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9 (NIV)

Every farmer knows that what you sow in one season, you will reap in another season. You plant in the spring, and you harvest in the fall.

The way you respond to someone or to a situation will affect your future in ways you cannot know right now. But if you respond by doing the right thing in this season of life, even if you don’t feel like it, then you can know that it will pay great dividends in the next season of life.

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9 NIV).

No matter which season you’re in, there are four questions you can ask yourself that will help you reap God’s blessing in the next season.

1. What can you learn in this season of life?

There are some things we only learn through experience. Deuteronomy 11:2 says, “Remember today what you have learned about the LORD through your experiences with him” (GNT). Even if this season is a struggle, there are still lessons to learn and ways to grow.

2. What can you enjoy in this season of life?

The Bible says, “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:18 NIV). We are to live with a sense of gratitude on the good days and the bad days, because each day is a gift from God.

3. What is most important for this season?

Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens” (NIV). If that’s true, then you can’t do it all at once. You need to make some tough decisions about what really matters at this particular time in life.

4. How can you help others in this season of life?

The Bible says clearly that you weren’t put on this earth just to live for yourself: “Whenever you are able, do good to people who need help” (Proverbs 3:27 NCV). God gave you abilities, talents, and energy to help other people.

God is working in every season of your life to make you more like him and to use you to bless others. Give some thought to these four questions so you can make the most of what has been given to you today.

By Rick Warren – Source: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“Keep your roots deep in him, build your lives on him, and become stronger in your faith.”  Colossians 2:7 (GNT)

You can do many different things to keep your marriage growing. You can show affection, act unselfishly, and forgive each other. But by far the most important decision you and your spouse can make in your marriage is to remain committed to following Jesus together.

The Bible says, “Keep your roots deep in him, build your lives on him, and become stronger in your faith” (Colossians 2:7 GNT). Both you and your spouse may have committed your lives to Jesus at some point, but you need to ask yourself, “Are we continuing to live out our faith as a couple?”

Here are some practical ways you can follow Jesus together (many of these ideas can apply to other family relationships too):

1. Get baptized together. If you haven’t done so already, publicly identify yourself as a Christian. If Jesus is going to be the center of your marriage, it only makes sense that you both tell the world you’re following him. I love to see husbands and wives get baptized together. It’s a wonderful way to declare you’re committing your lives and marriage to Jesus.

2. Get in a small group together. Challenge your marriage spiritually by connecting with other Christian couples. As you learn together to apply God’s Word to your marriages and lives, you’ll sharpen one another spiritually. You’ll also be challenging each other to serve in ministry and share your faith regularly. Growing as a follower of Christ and as a spouse requires consistent accountability from other believers.

3. Renew your wedding vows. If you’ve committed your life to Jesus or renewed your commitment in a meaningful way since you first said your wedding vows, consider renewing those vows. It’s likely they’ll mean something different to you today.

4. Pray for and with each other. “Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed” (James 5:16 MSG). Who doesn’t want a marriage where you live together whole and healed? The Bible says this can happen when you confess to one another when you’re wrong and pray for and with each other.

5. Follow God’s Word. When couples read God’s Word together and apply it to their lives, it transforms their relationship and establishes a firm foundation for a lifetime together.

Your marriage may be going through a difficult season, but there’s still hope. Your marriage can find life again. But it has to start with you putting Jesus at the center of it. Do what God tells you to do in his Word, and your marriage can start growing again.

Jesus is the glue for any marriage. When everything else is tearing you apart and you feel like giving up, he will hold you together.

By Rick Warren – Source: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“Our love should not be just words and talk; it must be true love, which shows itself in action.” 1 John 3:18 (GNT)

Every marriage—and, really, every relationship—offers many opportunities for adjustments. Your life together will change. Your kids will grow up. You’ll change jobs. You’ll move. You’ll get sick. Life will force you to make adjustments.

And to make these adjustments successfully, you’ll need to become unselfish. In fact, learning to be unselfish may be the greatest lesson God wants to teach you through your marriage.

Unselfishness is at the core of what the Bible teaches in 1 John 3:18: “Our love should not be just words and talk; it must be true love, which shows itself in action” (GNT).

Here are three ways we all can make unselfish, loving adjustments:

1. Think about what your spouse needs. The Bible says, “Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too” (Philippians 2:4 NLT). Unfortunately, often the longer you’re married, the less you think about your spouse’s needs. The Bible urges you to look out for everyone’s needs—but especially the needs of those in your own home.

2. Submit to each other. The Bible calls spouses to submit to each other—to give up what you really want in order to meet your spouse’s needs. Ephesians 5:21 says, “Honor Christ by submitting to each other” (TLB). Some men think their wives should do all of the adjusting in marriage. But as leaders of the home, husbands are called to lead the way in sacrificing and in making adjustments—just as Jesus did. Paul writes, “For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her” (Ephesians 5:25 NLT).

3. Make adjustments in the little things. Maybe it means arriving a little bit later or leaving a little bit earlier. Maybe it means going to bed at a different time. Maybe it means going to the restaurant or watching the movie your spouse prefers. Maybe it means listening when your spouse needs you to listen and not just when you feel like it. Real love is expressed through those small, daily decisions to adjust and meet each other’s needs.

The test of real love isn’t in what you say. It’s in how you act.

When your love is mature, you treat your mate like Jesus would. 1 John 3:16 says, “This is how we know what love is: Christ gave his life for us” (GNT).

Make the adjustments to love your spouse as Christ does. That decision will change everything.

By Rick Warren – Source: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“Be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.” James 1:19 (NIV)

Good marriages don’t just happen. Marriages are what you make them. If you put in the effort, you can learn the skills and wisdom to build a great relationship, regardless of what your marriage has been like up until now.

During the next few days, we’re going to look at some practical ways you and your spouse can grow closer to each other and closer to God. Many of these principles can also be applied to any close relationship, at any stage of your life.

One skill that anyone can learn to help make their relationships better—whether in marriage or in friendship—is how to pay attention.

When you give someone your attention and focus, it’s like you give them a piece of your life.

Your time is your life because you’ll never get it back. That’s why the most loving act you can show your spouse is to pay attention to them. Those focused moments of intimate sharing are one of the most important ways you say, “I love you.”

The truth is, you fell in love by paying attention. You started paying attention to someone, and that person started paying attention to you. You probably bought flowers, wrote notes, and talked for hours on the phone. You spent your free time together.

But gradually your attention shifted. Today you may be more focused on paying bills, taking care of kids, pursuing hobbies, or building your career. Your spouse might not be the center of your attention anymore. A shift of focus happens naturally, but if you don’t bring your attention back to each other, your marriage will eventually crumble.

One of the ways you let your attention fade in marriage is when you stop listening to each other. Pride makes you assume you know what your spouse has said—because you think you’ve heard them say it over and over again through the years.

If you’ve stopped listening to your spouse, start listening again today. Why? First, you love the person. And when you give your attention by listening, you’re showing love. Next, sometimes God speaks through your spouse. Your spouse may have better insight into a situation than you do, and your spouse knows your blind spots and can help you see them.

God gives a great recipe in his Word for the kind of focused attention through listening that makes a marriage grow. James 1:19 says, “Be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry” (NIV). When you do the first two parts of that verse, the third one will be automatic. As you do this, you’ll keep your marriage growing and going.

To fan the flames of romance in your marriage, start bringing back some of that focused attention. Show you care by staying aware. As you pay attention to each other, you’ll find yourselves growing closer even as you raise a family, pursue careers, and eventually grow old together.

By Rick Warren – Source: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends.”

Proverbs 17:9 (NLT)

We all have people in our lives who exasperate us. They might be demanding, disapproving, or demeaning. Perhaps they’re self-centered and focus every conversation on themselves. Or maybe they just love to argue or complain.

Whatever they do, it drives you over the edge. It makes you want to call up your best friend and say, “You won’t believe what they did!” In other words, these are the people who make you want to gossip.

What is gossip? It’s when you talk about someone behind their back rather than going to that person directly. It’s sharing information about someone with another person who is not part of the problem or the solution. In its essence, gossip is a form of retaliation.

In the short term, gossip may make you feel better—but it actually lets the person you’re gossiping about win. It allows that person to control your conversations and emotions. Suddenly you’re spending your time talking about that person instead of all the positive things in your own life.

Gossip is incredibly destructive too. The Bible says it like this: “Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends” (Proverbs 17:9 NLT). Gossip destroys churches, families, and businesses. It separates close friends. It can even destroy your life.

But you don’t have to let it. It’s your choice not to gossip—and to instead choose to bless the other person.

The Bible says in 1 Peter 3:9, “Do not do wrong to repay a wrong, and do not insult to repay an insult. But repay with a blessing, because you yourselves were called to do this so that you might receive a blessing” (NCV).

You can gossip and miss out on God’s blessing.

Or you can choose to have positive conversations and use words that lift others up. In doing so, you will receive God’s blessing in your life.

By Rick Warren – Source: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.” Colossians 3:13 (NLT)

Has someone ever done a crazy, hurtful thing to you or to someone you love? And maybe you’ve thought, “I know the Christian thing to do is to forgive, so I will. I will forgive him as soon as he gives me an apology.”

But that mindset has a problem: You’re still holding on to the hurt. Truth is, that person may never ask you for forgiveness. He may never say he’s sorry. She may not care, or she may not even realize what she’s done. So you end up stewing over something that the other person has long ago forgotten. And it’s eating you up inside!

Never hold on to a hurt. It only leads to resentment, and resentment tears you up. Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will harm someone else. It doesn’t work.

But resentment does have an antidote: forgiveness.

Jesus served as a clear example of forgiveness—even in the most extreme circumstances. As he hung on the cross, he said of his executioners: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34 NIV).

When you struggle to forgive someone, remember the great gift of God’s forgiveness—the forgiveness that Jesus offered on the cross and offers to you, too.

Colossians 3:13 sums it up well: “Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others” (NLT). (You might even write this verse down and carry it with you throughout the day, or put it in your phone, and memorize it. You’ll probably have plenty of chances to use it!)

The Greek word that is translated as “make allowance” carries the meaning “to bear with, to endure, to be tolerant.” In other words, cut people some slack.

Jesus said, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy” (Matthew 5:7 NIV). I want God’s blessing in your life. One way you receive that is by being merciful.

When faced with a hurt, you have a choice: You can hold on to it and be destroyed by resentment, or you can live in the freedom of forgiveness. Choose to forgive today.