faith Archives

Keep Failing

The secret to success isn’t avoiding failure. It’s learning from your mistakes and continuing to move forward.

The television series Alone is a survival competition where participants survive alone in the wilderness for as long as possible. Contestants are given minimal equipment and must build their own shelters, start their own fires, and find their own food. The physical demands are brutal.

One of the contestants, Colter Barnes, lost 86 pounds over 67 days in the wild and had to be medically evacuated.

Topics: Current Events Tags: faith, marriage September 21, 2023 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Drawing Closer to God and Each Other

Why did you get married?

For your spouse?

Or for yourself?

Be honest. You got married because the relationship made you happy.

Don’t feel too guilty. The rest of us probably did the same thing. We thought life with this person would make our lives better. And while that’s not entirely selfish – God wants us to enjoy our marriage to our spouse, after all – many couples spend their first years of marriage chasing individual interests.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, marriage September 20, 2023 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

How Jesus Redeemed My Gender Confusion

Gender identity is a pervasive topic these days. The culture is locked in debate about everything from access to restrooms to competition in women’s athletics to the ethics and morality of certain courses of treatment for children dealing with gender dysphoria.

For Christians, this isn’t a political matter, a psychological orientation, or even a social question. It’s a spiritual battle. The Bible is clear that God created humanity as male and female, biological certainties that are not dependent on how a person feels or “identifies.” However, we battle an enemy who sows seeds of confusion that corrupt our understanding of God’s beautiful design.

Topics: Current Events Tags: events, faith, kids September 18, 2023 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Aiming for a Godly Marriage in the Dating Years

Dating has changed dramatically over the decades, even within the Christian community. It used to be a slower process. Young adults took a deliberate approach to creating healthy relationships and seeking God’s will for marriage.

These days, everything is fast paced, driven by a culture that prioritizes instant gratification. Dating becomes a recreational activity instead of an opportunity to build a meaningful connection that endures across time and struggle.

Authors and married couple Safa and Tovares Grey believe dating is an opportunity for single adults to develop the character they’ll need to be godly partners in marriage.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, marriage September 15, 2023 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Life at a Funeral

A friend of mine is an atheist. He says he doesn’t believe in God because he can’t see Him. I say he sees God more than he thinks he does. The evidence is all around us. We just need the eyes to see.

Let me give you a simple, yet profound, example. When my friend’s mother died, he remembers standing alone beside her casket and talking to her – just simple things, like how nice her hair looked and how deeply he loved her.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith September 14, 2023 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Break Your Dreams Free

Do you have goals, dreams, or ambitions you’ve kept hidden? Maybe it’s time to break them free.

Had you been walking by Henry Ford’s Detroit home one summer day in 1896, you might’ve thought he’d lost his mind. There he was, ax in hand, chopping away at the door frame and surrounding brick of his shed. What you actually would have been witnessing was history in the making. Ford had spent seven years building what he called a “Quadricycle.” Today, we call it a car.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family September 13, 2023 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Secular Concerns Can Be Solved by Faith-Friendly Solutions

What if many of the problems and concerns most often raised by secularists these days were solved by solutions regularly championed by people of faith?

School districts around the country, including those in my home state of Colorado, are shutting down buildings and institutions because of a lack of enrollment. Where are the students going? In some cases, they’re attending private or home schools – but more often, they’re not going anywhere because the boys and girls simply don’t exist.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family September 13, 2023 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Clinging to God Through the Pain of Depression

Many Christians who struggle with depression often feel isolated and ashamed. Admitting to feelings of despair within a community of faith often leads to judgmental attitudes or well-meaning Christians who suggest that depressed people “choose joy” or “pray more.”

But what are believers with depression to do when God doesn’t ease their suffering?

Author Sarah Robinson struggled with depression and suicidal thoughts from a young age. Even after becoming a Christian at age 15, her struggle continued.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family September 12, 2023 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

How to Raise Strong Believers

If God is good, why does He allow evil to exist?

Have your children ever asked you that question?

Have you ever asked your children that question? How do you think they’d answer?

How about these questions?

Where did the universe come from?

Do science and religion contradict each other?

Do all religions worship the same God?

How do we know God hears and answers prayer?

Author Natasha Crain didn’t know how to answer these and other important questions when her children asked.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, parenting September 11, 2023 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Faith of an Atheist

It was Shakespeare who said, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” What he meant was that the nature of a thing doesn’t change just because you rename it.

Take the word “faith,” for example. Faith is often associated with religion, but everybody has the capacity for faith. Even atheists. That’s right, atheists live by faith just like religious people do. They just call it something else.

In general terms, faith is about believing that something exists even though you can’t directly observe or measure it.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith September 7, 2023 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura