“Jesus’ purpose in helping us to understand God’s law isn’t to urge us to try harder. He knows we’re incapable of keeping the law. That’s why he explains that he’s come to fulfill “the Law and the Prophets.” Jesus has… — Winston T. Smith Copy Share Image
“It’s as if we believe the general duties of love are fundamentally different from our specific duties as husbands and wives.” — Winston T. Smith Copy Share Image
“Your actions, regardless of their effect on others, always change you, either leading you to become a more loving person or a more hardened,… — Winston T. Smith Copy Share Image
“But the way we exercise authority and define our marital roles often doesn’t seem informed by a biblical understanding of love at all. Some… — Winston T. Smith Copy Share Image
“To the extent that you use authority to manage your own fears and feed your own desires, you’re subverting Jesus’ authority and enthroning yourself.” — Winston T. Smith Copy Share Image
“We need to be careful not to read the challenges of our own hearts, our personal assumptions, and our cultural assumptions about gender into… — Winston T. Smith Copy Share Image
“We sometimes refer to our spouses as our other or better half. The expression suggests that our spouses complete us. Although a sweet idea,… — Winston T. Smith Copy Share Image
“the most critical ingredient of an intimate relationship is trust. You have to know that the other person means what he or she says,… — Winston T. Smith Copy Share Image
“Remember what sin and idolatry are really about: attempts to play God, to make everything and everyone serve you and your desires. To sin… — Winston T. Smith Copy Share Image
“Because we’re made in God’s image we can’t fully escape knowledge of ourselves, and of God’s purity, holiness, and wrath. We were made to… — Winston T. Smith Copy Share Image
“Jesus didn’t just tolerate the sinners that thronged to him; he reached out and touched them. He visited tax collectors in their homes; invited… — Winston T. Smith Copy Share Image
“God encourages his people, not by denying the beauty and grandeur of the previous temple but by pointing them to how he intends to… — Winston T. Smith Copy Share Image
“We’re accustomed to thinking about love as an emotion or an experience that happens to us, but the Bible teaches us that love isn’t… — Winston T. Smith Copy Share Image
“don’t just wish things were different. Don’t just look for the easy way out. Don’t let go until you get every blessing that God… — Winston T. Smith Copy Share Image
“Notice that God “places enmity” between Satan and Eve’s offspring. We struggle against sin, hating it in ourselves. If God hadn’t placed enmity between… — Winston T. Smith Copy Share Image
“Inviting others to change by reminding them of their true identity is God’s trademark. If we expand our study of Ephesians beyond chapter 4,… — Winston T. Smith Copy Share Image
