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One of the most counterintuitive messages for anyone to accept is their inherent badness. If you are feeling bad about yourself, the key to overcoming this struggle is to accept that you’re not a good person. The culture says you are somebody. The Bible says you’re not, other than made in God’s image. I’m not addressing self-worth that is found in image-bearing, but our futile pursuit to feel good about ourselves outside of Christ’s alien righteousness. Read Here: https://rickthomas.net/knowing-youre-bad-is-the-beginning-of-being-good/ Will you help us so we can continue to provide free content to the world? You can become a supporting member here rickthomas.net/recurring-membership/ Or you can make a one-time or recurring donation(s) here https://rickthomas.net/donations/

No doubt, being a good husband is a good goal. And you can throw in being a good wife too. You could say the same thing for being a good dad, mother, child, employer, employee, or a good friend. All of these roles are important, but did you know there is a difference between “good and best?” When you think about your life, there is a “best goal” that transcends all of the single-dimensioned ones that I’ve listed. Read Here: https://rickthomas.net/a-good-goal-for-husbands-stop-trying-to-be-a-good-husband/ Will you help us so we can continue to provide free content to the world? You can become a supporting member here rickthomas.net/recurring-membership/ Or you can make a one-time or recurring donation(s) here https://rickthomas.net/donations/

If you are not able to counsel with tears, you're not counseling the way Jesus did (Matthew 23:37; John 11:35). Biblical counseling is not as biblical as it needs to be if it does not happen in a context of compassion for the struggling soul. That type of "counseling context" transcends the counseling office; I'm also talking about marriages, families, homes, churches, work environments, and any other place where you're helping someone with God's Word. Read Here: https://rickthomas.net/what-to-do-when-your-biblical-counseling-is-harsh/ Will you help us so we can continue to provide free content to the world? You can become a supporting member here rickthomas.net/recurring-membership/ Or you can make a one-time or recurring donation(s) here https://rickthomas.net/donations/

How you answer this question will give you the insight to why your life is the way it is. To answer it correctly and live it practically will set the stage to one of the most incredibly adventurous experiences you can have. Are you ready for my question? Oh, and don’t forget to use Scripture to support your answer. Read Here: https://rickthomas.net/this-worldview-will-change-everything-about-your-life/ Will you help us so we can continue to provide free content to the world? You can become a supporting member here rickthomas.net/recurring-membership/ Or you can make a one-time or recurring donation(s) here https://rickthomas.net/donations/

The more you want someone to change, and the more you are pulling for someone to change, and the more you’ll be tempted to feel too much pressure regarding your role in the change process. Here is one thing that you must remember: if a person wants to change, he can in spite of your inadequacies. The grace of God is more vital than your strengths and weaknesses or their hopelessness and resistance. Read Here: https://rickthomas.net/the-sobering-truth-for-why-some-people-do-not-change/ Will you help us so we can continue to provide free content to the world? You can become a supporting member here rickthomas.net/recurring-membership/ Or you can make a one-time or recurring donation(s) here https://rickthomas.net/donations/

Everybody suffers. It does not matter who you are. It doesn’t matter who you belong to—the world or God’s family. Suffering is suffering, and nobody is exempt from it. The difference between Christian and non-Christian suffering is how we view and respond to it. When the world suffers, they lose hope. When God’s children suffer, they grow in confidence that God is there and working on the believer’s behalf. Read Here: https://rickthomas.net/the-purpose-of-suffering-is-to-grow-your-confidence-in-god/ Will you help us so we can continue to provide free content to the world? You can become a supporting member here rickthomas.net/recurring-membership/ Or you can make a one-time or recurring donation(s) here https://rickthomas.net/donations/

The most satisfying relationship a person can have with another is when they are mutually sharing their personal experiences with God. They cannot be more honest, transparent, humble, vulnerable, courageous, and life-giving. Though you can’t be this way with everyone, it’s vital to have one person in your life with whom you can penetrate the barrier of loneliness. Read Here: https://rickthomas.net/how-to-have-a-relational-adventure-with-someone-you-love/ Will you help us so we can continue to provide free content to the world? You can become a supporting member here rickthomas.net/recurring-membership/ Or you can make a one-time or recurring donation(s) here https://rickthomas.net/donations/

Do you discipline your children? How do you do it? When it comes to corrective care, how does your child experience it? Just as important, what is your motive behind your discipline? Anytime you’re talking about parental discipline, you want to make sure you are beginning at the right place, which is with the Lord. The Bible says, “For the Lord disciplines the one he loves” (Hebrews 12:6). Read Here: https://rickthomas.net/parental-discipline-is-born-out-of-a-heart-of-love/ Will you help us so we can continue to provide free content to the world? You can become a supporting member here rickthomas.net/recurring-membership/ Or you can make a one-time or recurring donation(s) here https://rickthomas.net/donations/

What does “bear all things” mean when Paul was talking about loving others from the love chapter? Am I supposed to permit or endure others to do what they want to do with me? Is this a “grin and bear it” theology of love? When preachers quote the “love chapter” at weddings, it sounds nice, but what about when the honeymoon is over and the marriage is hard? Read. Here: https://rickthomas.net/a-weak-view-of-love-will-damage-your-relationships/ Will you help us so we can continue to provide free content to the world? You can become a supporting member here rickthomas.net/recurring-membership/ Or you can make a one-time or recurring donation(s) here https://rickthomas.net/donations/

There is a problem for the Christian who believes he can live any way he wants to live because God has saved him. Though he is free from the penalty of sin, he is not free from the consequences of idolatry. Grace does not give him the freedom to live a self-indulgent and idolatrous life. The big question is, how can a person like this change? Paul gives us help from 1 Corinthians 10:1-14. Read Here: https://rickthomas.net/the-trap-and-the-escape-of-the-christian-idolater/ Will you help us so we can continue to provide free content to the world? You can become a supporting member here rickthomas.net/recurring-membership/ Or you can make a one-time or recurring donation(s) here https://rickthomas.net/donations/

How do you stay true to what you believe while not offending those who aren’t willing to get on board with your perspectives and practices? What if you have a weaker brother or sister that you can’t correct? Does the “weakest link” in the relationship, group, or church determine how things will be? When do you take a stand for what you believe or capitulate to the other person? Read Here: https://rickthomas.net/how-to-love-a-difficult-person-without-them-controlling-you/ Will you help us so we can continue to provide free content to the world? You can become a supporting member here rickthomas.net/recurring-membership/ Or you can make a one-time or recurring donation(s) here https://rickthomas.net/donations/

There are two general categories of people who attend a local church meeting on any given Sunday. Those who sin and admit it and those who sin and are unwilling or tentative about admitting it. Two people groups and one common denominator—we all sin. Read Here: https://rickthomas.net/do-your-friends-permit-you-to-be-imperfect/ Will you help us so we can continue to provide free content to the world? You can become a supporting member here rickthomas.net/recurring-membership/ Or you can make a one-time or recurring donation(s) here https://rickthomas.net/donations/

The people that you spend the most time trying to help may turn on you quicker than anyone else. Not every individual that you serve will react that way, but a few of them will not be responsive to change and may retaliate against you and your efforts to help them. What started with the best intentions can devolve into an acrimonious parting. Read Here: https://rickthomas.net/people-you-love-the-most-can-hurt-you-quicker-than-anyone-else/ Will you help us so we can continue to provide free content to the world? You can become a supporting member here rickthomas.net/recurring-membership/ Or you can make a one-time or recurring donation(s) here https://rickthomas.net/donations/

Overcoming past disappointments are hard enough in themselves. But sometimes, our inability to move forward is self-inflicted, as we use our past disappointments to gain acceptance, love, respect, and pity from others. Biff was such a person. Clinging to the past, not only gave him an identity, but it was a manipulative method to control his friendships. Read Here: https://rickthomas.net/manipulating-others-with-the-things-that-have-happened-to-you/ Will you help us so we can continue to provide free content to the world? You can become a supporting member here rickthomas.net/recurring-membership/ Or you can make a one-time or recurring donation(s) here https://rickthomas.net/donations/

Let’s free associate: name two people in your life that you cringe when you think about them. They are a pain in the neck. How about the person you would rather not be around? Do you have a person in your mind? A friend? A church member? A relative? Great! Read Here: https://rickthomas.net/here-is-some-motivation-to-love-that-pain-in-your-neck/ Will you help us so we can continue to provide free content to the world? You can become a supporting member here rickthomas.net/recurring-membership/ Or you can make a one-time or recurring donation(s) here https://rickthomas.net/donations/

Do you know of any Christians who do not act like Christians? Are they your friends? How would you help them? A friend asked me this question, and I gave him nine ideas that provided some clarity on how to help those who claim to be believers, but their lifestyle contradicts their profession. Perhaps these things will serve you too. Read Here: https://rickthomas.net/my-friends-say-they-are-christians-but-dont-act-like-it-how-do-you-respond/ Will you help us so we can continue to provide free content to the world? You can become a supporting member here rickthomas.net/recurring-membership/ Or you can make a one-time or recurring donation(s) here https://rickthomas.net/donations/

Two people have a similar struggle. Both of them struggle with discouragement because of their ongoing patterns of sin. Rather than seeing sin as an opportunity to lean into God, they are heading farther down the path of frustration and fear. Sinning plus struggling with ongoing discouragement about your sin is a double-sin-paradigm. Read Here: https://rickthomas.net/struggling-with-sin-is-one-way-the-lord-strengthens-you/ Will you help us so we can continue to provide free content to the world? You can become a supporting member here rickthomas.net/recurring-membership/ Or you can make a one-time or recurring donation(s) here https://rickthomas.net/donations/

The backstory is the story behind the story. There is always a backstory to every story. The story that you know is not all there is to what is happening. Behind every story, God is mysteriously working. How does not knowing the whole story affect how you think about the Lord and what He’s writing into your life? Read Here: https://rickthomas.net/if-you-knew-the-back-story-would-it-make-any-difference/ Will you help us so we can continue to provide free content to the world? You can become a supporting member here rickthomas.net/recurring-membership/ Or you can make a one-time or recurring donation(s) here https://rickthomas.net/donations/

How would people know you if you had no filter on your inner person? How would folks experience the authentic you? We live in a duality: our authentic self and the person we present to the public. Closing the gap between the two happens when the power of the gospel starts transforming us from the inside out. Read Here: https://rickthomas.net/breaking-down-my-heart-when-its-breaking-bad/ Will you help us so we can continue to provide free content to the world? You can become a supporting member here rickthomas.net/recurring-membership/ Or you can make a one-time or recurring donation(s) here https://rickthomas.net/donations/

If you read approximately 4.25 chapters a day, you will be able to complete the Word of God in a year. Okay. But the more significant questions are, “How much of that reading is changing you? Is God’s Word transforming you, or are you a duty-reader, assuming you read the Bible at all? Read Here: https://rickthomas.net/seven-keys-that-will-transform-your-life/ Will you help us so we can continue to provide free content to the world? You can become a supporting member here rickthomas.net/recurring-membership/ Or you can make a one-time or recurring donation(s) here https://rickthomas.net/donations/