Category: Devotional

Work: For Legacy or Joy?

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

The Preacher of Ecclesiastes uses the word “toil” in ways that sound like more than “job” or “career” or “thing I do for income.” He seems to use this word more broadly to mean what we put our energy toward in this world.

On this topic, the end of Ecclesiastes 2 focuses on a pointed question: Why do we toil? In answering this question, he, unsurprisingly, identifies one reason that is “vanity” and one that is “from the hand of God.”

His Days Are Full of Sorrow

The Preacher hated his toil because he would eventually have to leave the fruit of it to others. Yes, the finiteness of life plays a major role in how the Preacher thinks about about work in addition to wisdom.

There are two main problems with leaving life’s work to another, according to the Preacher. First, we don’t know whether our successor will be wise or a fool (Eccl 2:19). This ambiguity can be maddening, since this person will be the “master” of all for which we toiled. Additionally, there is the sheer vanity of someone coming after us who will enjoy what they did not work for (Eccl 2:21). The Preacher labels this not only as “vanity” but “a great evil” (Eccl 2:21).

This meditation on work provokes harsh words from the Preacher! He “hated all his toil,” and he gave his “heart up to despair;” a man’s return for his toil is days which are “full of sorrow” with work “a vexation” such that “in the night his heart does not rest” (Eccl 2:18–23).

When the Preacher asks what a man has to gain from all his toil (Eccl 2:22), the clear answer is: nothing.

Enjoyment From the Hand of God

And yet, there is another, better perspective on work the Preacher has to offer.

There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God, for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment? (Ecclesiastes 2:24-25)

Ideally, we will find “enjoyment” in our toil. God gives this as a gift, as there is no enjoyment in toil apart from the Almighty.

In reading Ecclesiastes, I’ve found a helpful framing from David Gibson: gain or gift? This framing helps me understand what the Preacher is up to at the end of this chapter when he seems to talk about work in two different ways.

When we work for gain—that is, when we work to be remembered or with a fixation on what will become of our work—we are striving after wind. This is misguided and foolish, since we will be forgotten (Eccl 2:16) and our work will pass to others. However, when we see work as a gift from God, we can begin to enjoy it.

Like so many other aspects of life, the key to joy in Ecclesiastes is receiving each role or activity from God. We honor God best (and thus enjoy life most) when we treat each area of life in the way that God intended. We will not live forever, and our work will not live forever; accepting and embracing these truths opens up the path toward enjoying our work now.

Pleasing God

The Preacher ends this discourse on work with a caveat. God does not give everyone joy in their work.

For to the one who pleases him God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give to one who pleases God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind. (Ecclesiastes 2:26)

God only gives wisdom and knowledge and joy to those who please him. The sinner gets something quite different.

This raises a natural question: who is it that pleases God? For the original audience listening to Ecclesiastes, the answer would have been clear: those who love God and keep his law please him.

So, if you feel frustration in your work, if you would like to find more joy in what you give your energy to in this world, the Preacher would direct your attention to your obedience to God’s law. And if you find yourself not quite measuring up to the standard of God’s law, join the club.

Jesus became man and lived in perfect accord with all of God’s righteous rules. The good news of the gospel means that Jesus’s obedience is credited to all those who trust in him. God is pleased with those who put their faith in Jesus.

These frustrations that the Preacher unearths are universal. They point to a planet which is cursed and discordant. And yet, the Bible testifies that there is a Savior given to the world as well.

The humble posture of the believer is to confess our sins and receive the Savior. The Preacher’s teaching on receiving one’s work as a gift points those with ears to hear in this same direction.

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Wisdom Drained of Power

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

When was the last time you walked through a cemetery? Such a stroll may seem dismal, but it’s quite good for your soul. Modern humans, especially the young, can talk themselves into immortality if they’re not careful.

If you visit a cemetery, you’ll probably find the newer graves in one area and the older graves in another. Pay attention to that older area. Notice the headstones, the names and dates carved along with a few words carefully chosen as an everlasting benediction.

The thing is, headstones don’t last. From the perspective of decades, it doesn’t take long before the carved words wear down and the stone itself starts to sink and crumble. You probably don’t know the people in these old graves, and now you can’t even read their names.

You Will Die

In Ecclesiastes 2, the Preacher takes on several investigations, starting with pleasure and turning to wisdom (Eccl 2:12). He somewhat predictably finds that there is “more gain in wisdom than in folly,” but the conclusion he reaches may be surprising: “the wise dies just like the fool” (Eccl 2:13,16).

Since “the same event” (death) happens to everyone—both the foolish and the wise—the Preacher wonders why he has tried to live according to wisdom. It is absurd that the sage and the fool both die in the same way (Eccl 2:14-15).

The Preacher was grappling with a profound and difficult lesson: Wisdom cannot protect us from death.

Those familiar with the Bible will sense a dissonance here that I believe is intentional. After all, in the book of Proverbs, Solomon extols the value of wisdom (see Proverbs 2) and urges his son (and his readers) to pursue and not abandon wisdom (Proverbs 4:1–9).

Perhaps we can feel the frustration voiced by the Preacher. Wisdom has great value in this life. But this life is so short! Is wisdom that valuable if everyone ends up with the same washed-out gravestone?

You Will Be Forgotten

In his investigation of wisdom, the Preacher lands on a second truth as difficult as our own mortality. Both the wise and the foolish die alike, and neither one is remembered.

For of the wise as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How the wise dies just like the fool! So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a striving after wind. (Ecclesiastes 2:16-17)

Not many of us meditate on our mortality. But even those who do probably think the good they do in the world might outlast them. The businesses, organizations, causes, places, and people we pour our lives into—surely these will be remembered, right?

Sadly, and simply, no. They won’t, and you won’t. Not in the long run.

You might not need convincing of this, but here’s another illustration. I know the first names of all four of my grandparents, and if you pressed me on it I could probably come up with the grandparent-names my parents used for their grandparents (my great-grandparents). But I don’t know any of their first names, and I barely know anything about them. That’s just three generations! And because I know so little about my great-grandparents, my children know nothing about them. I’m tied at the top of the list of people in the world most likely to remember those eight people, and I don’t even know their names, much less their passions or accomplishments.

Exposing Misplaced Hopes

Ecclesiastes exposes our misplaced hopes in a methodical, direct way. Do you think you might find some lasting significance from pleasure? From wisdom? From work? No, no, and no.

Everyone dies. You might be remembered for a few years, but it won’t be that many. Your name will blow away from the mind of the world like a feather on the wind.

What do we do with this stiff, cold breeze from the Bible? Were you hoping for something more encouraging or slogan-friendly from the Holy Scriptures?

Ecclesiastes takes a little while to resolve this tension, but we eventually get there. The Preacher gives this counsel: fear God and keep his commandments (Eccl 12:13).

That conclusion may not sound as uplifting as we’d like, but when we arrive there I suspect we’ll see how joyful and full of hope that exhortation is.

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Why We Reread the Bible

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

The Bible is not like other books. When we finish a novel or biography, we put it down and pick up something new. But many Christians complete a Bible reading and start right in again. For those new to the faith, this may seem strange.

Because frequent rereading of the Bible is not an obvious activity, I thought it might be helpful to highlight some of the reasons Christians never really finish reading the Scriptures.

The Bible is a Singular Book

Christians believe that the Bible is God’s Word, that God himself inspired what we read on those pages. This gives the Bible an authority and status unequal to any other book.

While this by itself does not imply we should reread the Bible, it does mean it’s no surprise if we treat it differently than other volumes on our shelves.

We Need to Keep Learning

The Bible gives us instruction, correction, comfort, and hope. This is the infinite, eternal God’s primary revelation of himself, and we finite, fallen humans don’t understand everything about God the first or second or tenth time we read it. Given our limitations and our nature, we will never have perfect knowledge of God in these imperfect bodies.

Because the Holy Spirit illuminates the Bible for us and gives us understanding, rereading the Bible can sometimes feel like reading a completely different book. I’ve talked to many Christians who admit to reading a passage dozens of times—over decades of their lives—before grasping something profound that now seems obvious.

We Forget

The Bible is a long book, containing truths both profound and difficult. Our frail minds do not easily hold all of these truths for long periods of time, especially when only exposed to them once.

We forget who God is and what he has done because we are weak and limited. We also forget God’s word because in our corruption we do not hold tightly to stories that emphasize our dependence and guilt. This is especially true when our lives are comfortable. (See the relevant warning to Israel in Dt 8:11–20.)

Because we easily forget God, we reread his word to remember.

We Are Commanded

Keeping the holy teachings about God top of mind is not just a recommended Christian activity. God commands it!

We are to “let the word of Christ dwell in [us] richly” (Col 3:16). Because we are forgetful, it’s hard to imagine obedience to this command without rereading.

Jesus says that part of the way we abide in him is to let his words abide in us (John 15:7). The words of Christ take up residence with us when we revisit them frequently.

To Grow in Love

Reading (and rereading) the Bible is not an end in itself. There is no heavenly trophy for most times reading the Bible.

We are getting to know a person—God—not a textbook. And we must hold tight to the gospel truths that fuel our love of our neighbors.

We read because we are loved by God. And because God loves us, we read so that we might love him and love our neighbors.

And until we love perfectly, we reread.

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Good Stewards of God’s Grace

Posted onAuthorMeghan Watt

“As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” 1 Peter 4:10-11

Scripture pulls no punches: not if each has received a gift, but as each has received a gift. The purpose is serving one another through God’s abundant generosity. God keeps things simple for us. So, why do we wonder what we’re supposed to do, how much we’re supposed to do, and often miss the point while we’re doing it? 

Most of us feel tired. We’re stretched with careers, growing children, ailing bodies, and demanding class schedules. What can tired people do when the needs are high all around them? There is discernment and direction for us in God’s word. We are to walk in the ways Jesus walked (1 Jo 2:6) and seek to understand his will for the time, resources, energy and capacity he’s given us (Eph 5:15-16). The good news is that we can do so without overwhelm, guilt, or burnout if we quietly listen to where he’s calling us to go. I’ve outlined just three basic responses below.

Look to Christ

High needs, right hand is a motto that has rung in my ears for the past several months. On a rainy Monday morning, I was busy doing laundry while muttering prayers. I had just realized there was a trail of paper scraps through the study, and I could faintly hear two brothers bickering from the upstairs hallway. My daughter had just come in to ask me a math question while the timer beeped (again) on an overdone egg-bake in the oven. Above all the small neediness of the household, I had my own internal needs that felt pressing. My soul needed comfort from God in a stressful situation, and my emotions felt raw. 

In that season, I was reading through Romans and had just paused in chapter 8. Verse 34 wafted back to me like a fresh spring breeze that lifted the fog

Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

High needs, right hand. 

We can stagger when there are so many voices jockeying for our attention. But the first and most important thing we can do is look to Christ. He is at the right hand of the Father right now. Condescending to us and interceding for us right now. Who better, then, to ask for direction and insight? Who better to prioritize our to-do lists and alleviate our guilt? Who better to show us how to live, serve, and die? 

The gospel transforms our spiritual gift perspective by reminding us that it’s not about us and what we can do—it’s about Jesus and what he has done. We don’t answer the call to serve working toward approval but rather working from approval—our approval is secure and unshakable in Christ. There are high needs all around us, and each of them has a legitimate pull for our attention. When we look to Christ, we marvel at the way he walked, the life he calls us to live, the death he died, and the beauty of his presence with us all our days. The flustered feelings of not doing or being enough find their place in the dust among the rubble of our insecurity and pride. Only then are we free to speak with his wisdom, discern what pleases him, and receive the strength he supplies. We work our fingers to the bone out of gratitude and humble love for his people, for we are merely responders to his mercy.   

Involve Your Leadership

As you look to Christ, you can rest in the providential care of the leadership God has placed over you. If you have a husband, ask where he sees your gifts being best used. If you’re in a conversation with a deacon, ask how your natural talents and abilities can help with physical needs of the church. Seek counsel from your elders about where they see gaps in the local body that your spiritual gifts might fill. Open yourself up to wisdom from brothers and sisters in your church. Tune your ear for echoes from the church announcements or bulletin. Study the people God has put in front of you. In our American context, we prize individuality. However, when we look to Scripture, giftings are much more communal. Peter reminds us, it’s been given that you might give. Involving someone else in something we’ve made so personal can be unnerving. We may have convinced ourselves that we’re gifted in an area that we’re not. We might cringe at the actual need of the church compared to the exciting thing we thought we could offer. A chaotic season of life may mean we need to heed counsel to pull back for a time. In humility, we must listen to the wisdom of the leadership over us.

Do the Next Thing

Have you ever wondered why spiritual gift tests are such a draw for Christians? Like some kind of alternative to personality assessments, we flock to these formulas to tell us where we fit within the body and where we are weak. They can be helpful when the results are used correctly and held loosely. Worst case scenario: we note our frail areas and excuse our lack of serving while boasting about our strengths. Best case scenario: we take seriously 1 Peter 4 and get to work. 

A good amount of our fretting over which way to walk is cured by just taking the first step. One of my favorite authors, Elizabeth Elliot, quipped:

When you don’t know what to do, do the thing in front of you.

“There are a million things in front of me!”, you might protest. Great—pick one. The question is not, who am I and what do I have? The question is, what grace have I experienced, and how does that serve others well? We don’t need to spend our time lamenting the gifts we weren’t given, nor are we permitted to envy the gift another has. We are called to get busy doing what’s been laid in our path with what he’s given us. Sometimes, our over-analytical approach to how we should serve within our local church is nothing more than a glorified roadblock to obedience.

In the Strength God Supplies

God often calls us to spaces where we feel our weakness more than we feel our strength. Remember, he is in the business of making shaky things solid by his strong arm. When we only gravitate toward serving in an area in which we feel totally comfortable and refuse to meet any need outside that range, we miss out on the comfort God gives his people when they rely on him. I’m not advocating that you grab a mic if you’re tone deaf or help balance the church budget if you struggle with basic math. However, we are a gullible people who can easily cite reasons for not relying on the strength God supplies. 

Maybe serving one another isn’t as daunting as we’ve made it. The simplicity of the gospel should fuel our posture toward one another in a way that is natural, even if it’s hard. Let’s commit to asking ourselves how Christ might be exalted through our going low and serving in unseen places. How might it please God to do a mighty work, by the power of his Spirit, in ordinary and busy people like us? 

In order that in everything, God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.

Don’t be deceived: this little corner of Washington will echo into eternity. Christ is Lord, and all gifts, all talents, all time, all resources are his. 

To Him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

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God’s Fleeting Gifts

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

The signs of her are everywhere. From inspirational sayings on the fridge to masking-tape labels on spice jar lids, we see her handwriting all over the kitchen. No matter how much sorting and donating we’ve done, she’s still a huge part of that house.

Rightly so. My parents were married for almost 50 years, spending close to 45 years in that house. Mom has been gone since the fall of 2023, but I can still smell her distinctive scent when I walk in the front door.

I spent some time with my dad this past February, and I felt those now-familiar feelings that I know accompany loss and grief: sadness at my mom’s absence and gratitude for the time I had with her. That time was not short—I am not young!—but good relationships rarely last as long as we’d like. We’re finite, but we crave the infinite.

We don’t raise the topic much in conversations at work or at the coffee shop, but our death is inevitable. Famously, this is the great equalizer, the one experience (aside from birth) all humans will share. Here’s one among many obvious implications: all of God’s gifts are temporary.

It’s easy to acknowledge the temporary nature of some gifts—an ice cream cone, a garden bloom in the spring, a favorite band’s concert. We know we can’t hold onto these for long.

But we treat some other gifts differently. A best friend or spouse, an energizing career, a well-loved home—if we tilt our heads at the right angle, we might convince ourselves these will last forever. Whether our ignorance is willful or naive, we’re still ignoring the obvious. We’re going away, and so is everything we ever lay eyes on.

God’s gifts aren’t the problem, of course. He gives good gifts to his children (Ps 84:11, 34:10, 103:5). Our problem is the weight we misattribute to these gifts. We want them to be and to bear too much. When we hoist a crane on the back of a horse, we shouldn’t expect any galloping around the pasture.

One correction we can offer each other is to receive these given things in the way they are intended: as good but temporary gifts. We might think this will lead us to devalue or ignore the people and things in our lives. That’s possible, but this perspective should actually help us love them better. No spouse was made to be the object of worship; no friends were intended to be eternal sources of encouragement. We love these people and things best when we agree with what God says about them: they are good, and they (like us) are dust.

Some of my mother’s labels and notecards have been in my childhood home for decades. Her memory still lives on in that house and with her loved ones. But from the perspective of centuries, it won’t be long before those index cards, that house, and everyone who ever knew my mother’s name is gone. This may sound like a downer, but it’s actually a necessary perspective if we want to relate well to God’s gifts.

There is one of God’s gifts that will last, only one that can bear the weight of our desire, our hope, and our worship. Only one gift that will actually satisfy the desire for permanence that stands like a pillar at our core. That gift is God himself. The incarnation of Jesus was a preview of what is to come (Rev 21:3). God gives himself to his children freely and gladly—without hesitation. And we will enjoy him forever.

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3 Poor Reasons to Read the Bible

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

On this side of our glorified bodies, Christians have two natures that wrestle within. Our “old man” persists until we see the Lord, and as a result, even our good behavior can be laced with sin.

We rejoice at the opportunity to help our neighbor, but we recognize the pride of self-congratulation on the walk back home. We try to give money generously, but we catch ourselves scheming how to work our latest donation into a dinner conversation. Our hearts have graduate degrees in dusting sour, selfish powder on the wholesome bread of obedience and love.

Bad Reasons for Bible Reading

Reading the Bible is no exception. We can exploit even this act of devotion for selfish gain.

I’ve seen this in my life. The reasons I have for sitting down with God’s word are often mixed. The more we can identify and repent of our bad impulses, the better.

Read the Bible to Have a Great Day

Over the years, I’ve heard a lot of encouragement to exercise in the morning. I’m told this active start to the day will make me feel amazing and will set me up for success in every other area of my life.

Some people advocate Bible reading in the same manner. Fifteen minutes in the Psalms will give you the spiritual equivalent of endorphins. If you start your day with God, what could possibly bring you down?

This approach to the Bible is stained with the prosperity gospel. Yes, obedience to God brings blessing, but “blessing” does not mean a smooth path and a fat wallet. We must not tie our ease and comfort to God’s favor or our obedience.

Those who push the Bible as a vaccination against trouble also speak a lot about how “inspiring” the Scriptures are. Call me a downer, but we need this sobering truth: The Bible is not always inspiring. It isn’t supposed to be.

In the Bible we find the self-revelation of the holy God of the universe, and this revelation is not always intended to make us feel good. God has designed something much better.

Read the Bible so Others Know You’re Holy

Social media has multiplied our opportunities to broadcast our spiritual practices. And the dopamine hits from likes and shares can transform a posture of humble worship to one of gold-nugget hunting.

But Instagram did not create this temptation. From my earliest days as a Christian I have wanted others to praise me for my piety. I would read God’s word with an eye toward sharing my devotional discoveries with my friends.

Most people want others to think well of them, and in the church, this can take the insidious form of spoiling genuine time with God by an obsession with one’s reputation. Time set apart to think about and worship God becomes more time to focus on me.

Read the Bible to Earn God’s Love

Christians need to hear the gospel of grace over and over and over. The news is so stunningly good, we have trouble believing and remembering it.

We doubt that God’s love is as deep and steady and present as he says. We know the devotion God desires, and we think his love for us must be proportional to our obedience. We pick up the Bible either in the fear that we have sinned too much or in the hope that God might, finally, be pleased with our latest offering of worship.

This thinking is pervasive, but it is nowhere in the Bible itself. For Christians, God is a good father whose love cannot be improved. Our accounts are at maximum capacity. Whether we read the Bible, or how well we read the Bible, does not change God’s affections toward us.

One Good Reason to Read

These poor reasons to read the Bible are focused on self. A great reason to read the Bible is to focus on God.

In the Bible, God shows us himself. He shows us his holiness and his law and his mercy. We see the background and setting for the life of Jesus, the central act of history. We hear the cosmos-rocking implications of his death, resurrection, and ascension.

We read the Bible because God commands we love him with our whole heart, mind, soul, and strength. But the transformed people of God long to worship their loving father and hear from him.

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Context Matters: Bear One Another’s Burdens

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Perhaps you’ve heard that Christians are to bear each other’s burdens. When a member of your church family is ill, recovering from surgery, or has recently welcomed a new child, you may have been encouraged (using this verse) to provide meals and other practical assistance.

“Bearing the burden” or “carrying the load” of another person is a memorable, vivid image. When a friend is weary and struggling with something weighty, we can take that heavy object in our arms. This is an act of service and love.

And yet, context matters. When we learn to read the Bible as a unified collection of letters and books instead of as a binder stuffed with proverbs, we’ll see that some of its most memorable commands don’t mean what we always assumed.

Ensnared in Sin

The context of the command to “bear one another’s burdens” is a person caught in sin.

Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. (Galatians 6:1-2)

This instruction comes on the heels of Paul’s famous passage about the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:16–26). Paul is explaining, in part, what it means to keep in step with the Spirit (Galatians 5:25).

What should Christians do when someone in their fellowship is “caught” in a transgression? Those who are spiritual should “restore” them in a spirit of gentleness. These topics are tricky and sensitive; being ensnared in sin is humbling and the one who is caught has likely been exposed. We must proceed with caution and love, and Paul gives us guidance.

Fulfill the Law of Christ

Perhaps by now we can see that bearing another’s burdens has little to do with mowing their grass after knee replacement surgery. Paul is concerned that Christians bear the burden of their friend’s sin entrapment and help them to freedom. This is so central to the way we are to love one another within the church that Paul writes that it helps us “fulfill the law of Christ.”

It is rare that someone can escape the quicksand of entrapping sin without the help of a Christian friend. A friend who will listen, who will gently speak the truths of the gospel, who will pray, who will help develop a plan for resisting and fleeing temptation—this is a friend whose value is beyond gold. These are the friends we need, and these are the friends we are called to be.

The surrounding passage gives further commentary on these situations.

  • Those who restore a sinner must be careful to watch themselves, lest they also be tempted (Galatians 6:1). When walking so close to the bog of sin and temptation, we must take care not to fall in the muck ourselves.
  • Christian friends must remember their own weaknesses and sin. There is no place for pride when bearing the sin burdens of another (Galatians 6:3).
  • We must not think we are better than our friend and boast in that perceived superiority (Galatians 6:4-5). Our “walking by the Spirit” is not measured by comparison to others; rather, we should use Paul’s list of the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit to make an honest self-assessment of our lives and hearts.

What We Lose

Do not fear. When we interpret Galatians 6:2 correctly, we are in no danger of losing the Christian call to care for our brothers and sisters when they need practical help.

Earlier in this epistle, Paul tells the Galatians to “through love serve one another” (Galatians 5:13). In 1 Thessalonians, we read, “See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone” (1 Thessalonians 5:15). Finally, the many New Testament commands to love one another more than cover the circumstances which are usually in mind when Galatians 6:2 is cited.

The danger we face, in fact, is just the opposite. This is one of a few places in Scripture that teach us how to act when a friend is stuck in the brambles of sin. If we misuse Galatians 6:2 because we haven’t read the passage carefully, or because we have over-emphasized the burden-carrying image, or because we think sin is a private matter, we’ll lose valuable instruction about how Christians bear the fruit of the Spirit in community.

Context matters.

For more examples of why context matters, click here.

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The Uncomfortable Reason God is Kind to His People

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Nice is not the same as kind, though we conflate these terms. I hear people described as being “nice” far more than “kind,” and I suspect that’s because cultural niceness is not a high bar to clear. If someone is generally unoffensive, refrains from kicking puppies, and smiles here and there, they are nice.

But this is not kindness. Think about it: Scripture tells us that God is kind, but can you imagine describing God as nice?

The Christians in Rome had trouble understanding God’s kindness, so Paul wrote with some difficult words on the subject.

Kind Is Not Permissive

At the beginning of Romans 2, Paul confronts those who judge others and practice the same things themselves.

Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? (Romans 2:3–4)

These Romans knew God was kind, but they assumed that meant God would overlook their sin. God is patient, but if knowing this leads to hypocrisy under the cover of God’s grace, things have gone off the rails.

God is not only kind but rich in kindness, forbearance, and patience (verse 4). And this kindness is meant to lead us to repentance.

Kindness and Repentance

In our permissive, mind-your-own-business culture, the connection between kindness and repentance is confusing. The thought goes that anyone who is kind or nice would let us do what we want instead of encouraging us to change.

But God knows better. It is good and kind of God to turn us away from sin and back to himself. We may think of the law as dampening our fun, so it seems like only a killjoy would turn us away from what we want to do.

But if what we want is bad for our souls, if it make us less human and less like what we were meant to be, then letting us carry on in sin is not kind at all. In fact it is uncaring, unloving, mean, and even hateful.

If we’re thinking properly, we should embrace and welcome this kindness of God to turn us around. We should pray for God in his kindness to open our eyes to our sin and to gently and firmly lead us to repentance.

Becoming More Kind

Note that God’s kindness is meant to lead us to repentance and that kindness is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). One implication is that if our kindness is like God’s, we will also point others to repentance.

There are loving and unloving ways to do this, of course. But my guess is that Christians reading this have probably experienced a loving rebuke from a friend. It hurts, yes, but the pain is like that of fixing a dislocated finger. Popping the finger back into joint can be excruciating, but it leads to health. We can now function the way we are supposed to. When we repent, in that area of our lives we’re no longer working against the Holy Spirit within us.

I’m not encouraging anyone to become a sin hunter. But there will be times where our kindness to our friends will lead us to confront in love, helping them to turn back to the God who loves them.

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The Parable of the Dog and the New Master

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

There once was an old and nasty man. He lived on the edge of town in a house that was an embarrassment to his neighbors, though he felt no shame. His yard was often filled with trash and always staked with signs which made it clear that visitors were unwelcome.

As he aged and drove everyone from his life, the man grew lonely (though he would not have used this word). So the man bought a dog. When the dog arrived at the house he was muscular and fast but sweet and playful. The dog would not be kind and affectionate for long.

The man quickly trained the dog to be as nasty as he was. Through beatings, neglect, and other harsh punishments, the man shaped the dog into a vicious animal. The dog snarled and lunged at everyone who came close and attacked any animals within reach. Though the dog was bound to a chain staked in the yard, everyone who saw the dog stayed far away. This dog was one hundred plus pounds of muscle and teeth and there was little reason to think the chain would hold if the dog wanted to attack.

The dog was loyal to the man because he had no choice and knew no better. The man ruled the dog with great cruelty; he considered the dog a weapon and tool and treated him with all the affection one might have toward a rubber mallet. The dog did whatever his master wanted because his life depended on it.

After a few years, the nasty man died, and the man’s three children were notified. He had driven them away long ago, and while they weren’t surprised to see the state of his home, everything there was a reminder of a sad chapter of their lives. Their mother had cut off contact with her ex-husband years before, and they didn’t blame her.

After the house was emptied and listed for sale, the siblings prepared to return to their homes. The only question that remained was what should happen to the dog. While they were working on the house, they moved the dog to a shed in the back yard, but they went nowhere near him. He was as mean as ever.

The two younger siblings lived in city apartments and had no space for a large pet. The oldest son lived on two acres in a nearby county. He owned dogs in the past and had a soft spot for mistreated animals. Yet he wasn’t optimistic. He decided to give the arrangement three months; after this, he would either keep the dog or take him to a shelter.

At first, the situation seemed impossible. Because the dog was far from everything familiar, he lashed out at everyone. The son fed the dog by putting food in a bowl and sliding it forward with a broom. No one in the house was able to sleep because of the dog’s constant barking and his efforts to destroy everything.

As the second week turned over into the third, however, something strange began to happen.

On some mornings, the son would go out to feed the dog and the barking would stop for a few minutes. He spoke soothingly to the dog, using his new name, and the dog looked just quizzical instead of murderous. When the family arrived home in their car, the dog stood quietly behind his fence with his eyes on the garage. Little by little, the meanness of the dog was melting.

Sure enough, after four weeks the son was finally able to touch the dog without fear. In the sixth week, he gave the dog a much-needed bath. The dog learned some simple commands. The son’s wife was not yet ready to let the dog into the house, but the wagging tail was a welcome and surprising sign of good things to come.

By the time the third month came to an end, the decision to keep the dog was easy. The son’s patient, kind treatment of the dog had transformed the animal from a nightmare into a happy, rambunctious pet.

Because the dog had so many bad behaviors to change, the son tried to keep the long view in mind. At the park, he had to correct the dog frequently. The dog still had an impulse to attack, but it was decreasing. The nasty man had given the dog no choice but to harm and intimidate, but the son was teaching the dog, over time, how to make friends.

A year after the nasty man died, the dog was hardly recognizable. He bounced around the yard with his family, no longer kept behind a fence for safety. When the family came home, he greeted them with kisses and snuggles, and he was especially excited to see the children. The son invited friends to the house without fear of the dog harming or scaring anyone.

The dog had once depended on the nasty man, but he now was loyal to the son. He was no longer forced to be mean; he was now free to be playful and silly. And while he would not have used this word (because whoever heard of a dog using words?), the dog now knew that he was loved.

For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. (Romans 6:14)

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From God’s Promises to Faith

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

I became a Christian early in college, and I will never forget the support I found there. I can’t imagine starting my Christian life without those friends, mentors, and church families.

When I went to graduate school, God continued to provide—a wonderful church along with a community of Christian graduate students. A friend who helped lead that group had such an impact on me and my wife that he helped to officiate our wedding.

This man with a Ph.D. in Biblical studies was a gifted teacher. He could explain complex theological terms and ideas in memorable ways. I don’t think I’ll ever forget his shorthand definition of biblical faith: Faith is trusting God to keep his promises.

This isn’t everything one would want to say about faith. In a classroom setting, we would add context and qualification. But over time I’ve appreciated this definition so much. This friend took years of study and volumes of reading and gave me a sticky way to keep this important term in my brain.

It’s only recently that I think I’ve found the best single passage to defend this short definition.

Faith, Promises, and Grace

The book of Romans is no joke. It is a theological titan among the other books of the Bible.

In Romans 4, after Paul writes about Abraham and justification, he turns to the matter of faith and the promises of God.

For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. (Romans 4:13-14)

Imagine how surprised first-century Pharisees must have been by this particular passage. Wait, righteousness doesn’t depend on adhering to the law? No, it comes through faith, and that faith depends on God’s promises.

That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all (Romans 4:16)

Further, the promises of God rest on grace. Paul could not be any clearer: faith is key, not obedience to the law.

The God Who Promises

The promise came to Abraham because he believed God (Romans 4:17). Paul connects this belief in God to God’s character and his actions.

Abraham’s God “gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist” (Romans 4:17). God’s promises are as sure as the creation on which we are standing. Abraham also knew that God could give life to the dead; when God called Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, Abraham believed (according to Hebrews 11:17–19) God would bring his son back from the dead if needed. This is how sure Abraham was that God would keep his promise.

Abraham trusted God to keep his promises, but he was not believing in a cold legend scratched in stone. God called and spoke to Abraham personally. God met and walked with Abraham, and Abraham knew his character. God is mighty, and he is a promise keeper. Thus, he can (and should) be trusted.

Obstacles Are Not a Barrier

By human measurements, Abraham and Sarah were as likely to have a child as I am (as a slow man of average height in his late 40s) to play professional basketball. Yet these biological facts were not a barrier.

In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. (Romans 4:18-19)

Abraham “considered” the natural state of his and Sarah’s bodies, and he considered what “he had been told.” After this consideration, the promises of God carried far more weight.

Abraham was not told how God would keep this promise, but he was convinced that he would keep his promise. One thing I love about this paragraph is that there is no reason for us to pretend the human barriers to God’s promise-keeping are absent. God’s promises may seem like the fever dream of a science fiction writer—that’s fine to acknowledge, as long as we acknowledge in the same breath that God is a promise keeper. It is in God’s very nature and character to be faithful to his promises. So, where there seems to be a conflict between God’s promises and what we can imagine or predict, we must side with the sovereign God.

Fully Convinced

Is my friend’s definition of faith the one and only? Probably not. But I hope you’ll agree it is immensely helpful, especially as a starting point. From this passage we know Abraham’s faith was inherently linked to his trust in God to keep his promises.

Would you like to grow in your faith? This passage offers at least one way forward.

No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. (Romans 4:20-21)

Abraham became “fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.” This caused him to grow “strong in his faith as he gave glory to God.”

As we become more familiar with the Bible, we will see God’s promise-keeping nature more clearly. When we think of him, we will know in our bones that he keeps every promise, despite how things might appear to us. We will praise him, because his faithfulness is a glorious part of his character. And we will, like Abraham, grow strong in our faith.

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