Matters of the Heart

While the Bible doesn't specifically command Christians to memorize Scripture, there are several verses that tell us to meditate on the law day and night or to store God's Word in our hearts. Take Deuteronomy 11:18-20 for example, "Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates." Well, that's all well and good, but where do we start?   Today I've compiled 10 Bible verses every Christian should know by heart. These encouraging Bible verses are some of the most popular Bible verses to memorize - and for learn more...

Pop quiz time: How many Bible verses can you recite right now word-for-word from memory?  One? Five? Ten? If you're like most Christians (including me, unfortunately...) the answer is probably not very many. Sure, you may know the most common ones--verses like John 3:16 and Jeremiah 29:11--but with Bibles (and Bible apps!) so readily available, actually committing verses to memory just doesn't always feel necessary.   So, you want to hear something crazy? I'm not sure what the practice is today, but back in Jesus's day, Jewish boys would actually memorize the ENTIRE TORAH (the first 5 books of the Bible) by the time they were twelve. And many went on to memorize much more than that by the time they reached adulthood. That's insane.   Sure, this was back learn more...

I am a worrier. I come by it naturally. Both of my parents are worriers too. There wasn't a night I worked late that my mom wasn't right there on the couch waiting for me to come home. And the one time I showed up 20 minutes late (I was parked in and had to wait for someone to move their car), my dad was already out looking for me by the time I got home. I suppose you could say it runs in the family. Honestly, I don't even worry about that many things, but the things I do worry about--I worry about a lot. Like checking the oven before I go to bed. Not just once, but multiple times. And when we have to leave the house for more than a few hours, you can literally hear me purposely deep breathing in order to stay calm. Yeah, I'm kind of nuts like that.     The learn more...

This week, I was challenged to "write about a failure you've experienced lately," and honestly, I've had a really hard time coming up with what to write. Not because I'm great at everything or because I excel at everything I try (I don't!), but because "failure" simply isn't really a part of my vocabulary. I'm not a failure. And you're not either.   Sure there are times when I feel like a failure. I'm a perfectionist and a chronic "way-too-high-of-a-goal" setter, and that alone is a recipe for a disaster. In fact, looking over the New Year's Resolutions I made this year, I realized I haven't managed to keep a single one--either the ones I listed publicly in the blog post or the ones I wrote down on paper for myself. Oops.   But, you know what--that doesn't mean I learn more...