Fear is the root of nearly every problem you face.

Think about it.

I’m in a relationship where I’m constantly fearing that I won’t be pretty enough for him.  I worry that he’ll betray me for another woman.  I withdraw.  I question him constantly.  I make accusations based on my perceptions.  I become controlling.  I push him away.

Fear.  In some instances, the fear of betrayal (resulting in withdrawn love and control) may actually cause him to essentially betray me for someone whose love is not based on fear.

Tags: 1 John 4:18, afraid, fear, loss, love, rejection, relationships, root of every problem

When I came home from Cambodia, I wouldn’t have thought for one second that I was a Pharisee.  If anything, I was the one that had it together.  I’d been away for five months and not once during that time did I butt heads with someone.  I got along with people.  I liked people.  And they seemed to like me.  So if anyone was in the wrong, it had be my parents.  And I couldn’t wait for them to see it.  I couldn’t wait for them to start treating me like I deserved to be treated.

Tags: family, hard love, Jesus, loving when it hurts, Pharisees, real love, tough love, worthwhile

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. -Jesus’ words to the Pharisees, Matthew 23:27

Because the name “Pharisee” sounds so old and out-dated and old-fashioned, I never thought much about the prospect of such people being alive today.  Weren’t those the kind of people who wore long robes and tried to fulfill long lists of religious rules and regulations?  I didn’t personally know anyone like that.  Maybe those people existed in dusty old Catholic cathedrals, but I was charismatic.  I had to be the furthest thing from a Pharisee.  There was no tradition in my church.  No list of rules to fulfill.  We just loved Jesus and wanted to be like Him.  What was Pharisaical about that?

Tags: God, hyprocrite, Jesus, love, Matthew 23:27, Pharisee, real love, whitewashed tombs full of dead men's bones

That should be at the top of every Christian’s to-do list.  Learn to argue.  Yes, argue.

I dare you to sit still for one minute — or even 15 seconds — and count how many times a lie comes into your mind.  Sure, you may not realize it’s a lie.  Perhaps the lies that will bombard your mind during that one-minute or 15-second interval are lies you’ve believed your entire life.  But if you can’t find them in God’s Word, they’re lies.  And lies are nothing more than satan’s arguments against the truth.

Tags: argue, God, Jesus Christ, Jesus in the wilderness, lies, satan, talk back, truth

This one has been huge for me in my life.  I have yet to meet a single person who has not, in some way, dealt with rejection.  But for many, rejection has been so deeply planted into their hearts that to rip the root out, would mean changing their entire identity and personality.  If that is you, my friend, you are in good company.

Tags: fear, fear of rejection, freedom, God, Healing the Orphan Heart, identity, Jesus, labels, rejection, shy

The first symptom of an orphan heart is a sense of abandonment.  This symptom is a big symptom, from which a lot of other symptoms stem.  After all, how can an orphan became an orphan unless they are abandoned, either intentionally or unintentionally, by their parents?

Dictionary.com defines the word “abandon” as: to leave completely and finally; forsake utterly; desert.

Tags: abandon, abandonment, forsake, Healing the Orphan Heart, orphan, orphan heart

I don’t think there’s anything worse than a Christian being saved and adopted by God as His dearly loved son or daughter, and yet living their lives enslaved by satan’s lies, carrying around an orphan’s heart.  Below are 21 symptoms of an orphan heart, taken from a sermon I heard from my best friend’s church.

1. Abandonment
2. Rejection
3. Loneliness
4. Hopelessness
5. Worthlessness
6. Sadness
7. Mistrust
8. Hiding
9. Superficiality
10. Insecurity
11. Hypersensitivity
12. Fear
13. Poverty
14. Greed
15. Manipulation
16. Anger
17. Selectivity
18. Fantasy
19. Perception
20. Independence
21. Striving

Tags: abandonment, God, healing, independance, Jesus, loneliness, love, orphan heart, rejection, Romans 8:15, striving, worthlessness