love

The Natural Byproduct of a Changed Heart

Gary Wilkerson

“A lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, ‘Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?’” (Luke 10:25). The scribes and Pharisees had confronted Jesus and challenged his authority on many occasions but now a lawyer approached him, perhaps someone sent by them. Lawyers are well trained in the art of debate and undoubtedly this one was also well-schooled in the laws of the Old Covenant. He probably expected Jesus to begin to recite some of the rules regarding Sabbath, washing of hands, clean and unclean food. So many rules! And which one leads to eternal life?

Called to Be Perfect but Not Perfectionists

A lot of people say that they’re a perfectionist. Being hyper-critical of our situation, our friends, our work and ourselves is encouraged by our culture. Many would say this is what drives us to do better. But what if it mostly just drives people to exhaustion, anxiety and depression? Perfectionism, never feeling like anything is good enough, always feeling like you need to do better and accomplish more, is like running on an endless treadmill. Worst of all, it’s motivated by fear. What if we were motivated by love rather than the fear of being less than perfect?

Loving Jesus

Gary Wilkerson

We hear a lot these days about being loved by God, which is amazing and true, but we are also to love him. Gary Wilkerson exhorts us to be passionate, radical, fervent, on-fire lovers of Jesus.