My Devotionals

Be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5)

Today concludes our series exploring couplets of biblical truths that God calls us to hold in tension. Here’s our final piece of double-sided wisdom: Desire Good Things AND Be Content in All Things.

Many Christians don’t feel permission to desire. But Scripture gives it to us repeatedly! In Matthew 7:7-11, Jesus encouraged his followers to “ask” for “good gifts.” And Psalm 37:4 urges us to "take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart." 

So, while Scripture condemns fleshly desires (see Galatians 5:16-17), it clearly commends good and God-honoring desires like landing a promotion so you can serve more people or earning more income so you can give more generously.

But the flip side of this double-sided wisdom is to “be content with what you have” (see Hebrews 13:5). So, God...

Such confidence we have through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. (2 Corinthians 3:4-5)

We’re in a series exploring five pieces of “double-sided wisdom” we see throughout God’s Word. Today we come to the paradoxical couplet of biblical charges to Be Confident AND Stay Humble.

The call to confidence is found in passages like 2 Timothy 1:7 which says that “the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power.” 

But you can hear the flip side of this double-sided wisdom—the call to humility—in passages like Ephesians 4:2: “Be completely humble and gentle.”

How do we reconcile these two seemingly conflicting commands? By recognizing that the source of our confidence is the Lord! That’s what Paul is telling us in today’s passage. His confidence in his work was not sourced in what he thought of himself or what...

…because so many people were coming and going that [the apostles] did not even have a chance to eat, [Jesus] said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest. (Mark 6:31-32)

Job 11:6 says that, “True wisdom has two sides.” Which is why we’re exploring five pieces of “double-sided wisdom” in this series—couplets of paradoxical truths that God calls us to hold in tension. Here’s today’s: Enjoy Self-Care AND Embrace Self-Sacrifice.

We see Jesus modeling the first side of this double-sided wisdom throughout the gospels as he “often withdrew to lonely places” for some peace, quiet, and prayer (Luke 5:16). And in today’s passage, we see Jesus offering self-care to his followers (see Mark 6:31-32).

And yet, the dominant theme of Jesus’s life was not self-care but self-sacrifice, the flip side of this double-sided wisdom. For “the Son of Man did not come to be served, but...

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matthew 6:34)

We’re in a series exploring five pieces of “double-sided wisdom” we see in Scripture. Today we come to the couplet of biblical commands to Plan for Tomorrow AND Focus on Today.

The virtues of the first side of this double-sided wisdom can be seen in Proverbs 21:5: “The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.” Jesus echoed this idea in Luke 14:28-30 where he assumes that a good worker will “first sit down and estimate the cost” before “building a tower.”

In these passages and others, we see that it is wise to plan for the future. But the flip side of this double-sided wisdom is to “not worry about tomorrow” and focus on today (see Matthew 6:34).

So, how can we both plan for tomorrow and stay focused on today? Here are three practices that work for me.

#1:...

“You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.” (John 5:39-40)

My readers frequently tell me that they love my ability to extract wisdom from God’s Word and apply it to their work. I love that too, of course. But one of my greatest fears is that in our well-intentioned pursuit of living by “biblical principles,” we will become what author Jen Wilkin calls “Bible-worshippers” rather than “God-worshippers.”

That’s the red flag we see Jesus raising in today’s passage. Commenting on these verses, pastor Skye Jethani articulates this danger poignantly: “Discovering and applying [biblical] principles does not actually require a relationship with God….the Christian can put these new principles into practice without God being involved. God can be set aside while we remain in...

She puts her hands to the distaff, and her hands hold the spindle. She opens her hand to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy. (Proverbs 31:19-20)

The woman of Proverbs 31 described in today’s passage teaches us an important lesson about work and generosity—namely, that the two can be inextricably linked. As my friends at The Theology of Work Project explain:

Because she is successful in spinning, she has something to give to the poor, and conversely, her generous spirit is an essential element of her capability as an entrepreneur/executive. In other words, Proverbs claims that generosity and fiduciary duty do not conflict. Being generous to the needy out of the household’s resources does not reduce the owner’s wealth, but increases it.

Because God will always, always reward the kindness we show to the poor (see Proverbs 19:17). Sometimes in this life and sometimes in the life to come.

Jesus said this most famously in the Sermon on the Mount:...

Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses. (Proverbs 27:5-6)

According to the Harvard Business Review, “By roughly a three to one margin, [employees] believe [that corrective feedback] does even more to improve their performance than positive feedback.” In other words, most people accept the wisdom of today’s proverb that an “open rebuke” is “better” than “hidden love.”

There’s just one problem. While the vast majority of us prefer constructive criticism to pats on the back, “only 5 percent believe managers provide such feedback.”

So, what can you and I do to encourage others to correct us in love? Here are four ideas.

#1: Offer the gift of open but loving rebuke to others. This can be tough for Christians who feel the call to be kind. But you and I aren’t called just to be nice. We’re called to love as Christ loved us (see John...

Like an archer who wounds at random is one who hires a fool or any passer-by. (Proverbs 26:10)

In 2012, the CEO of Yahoo was fired just months after getting the job when an investor discovered that the CEO had lied on his résumé about holding a bachelor’s degree in computer science.

The CEO lost his job. The company was forced to pay out $7 million in severance. And Yahoo’s employees lost a leader and direction.

Who was to blame for all this destruction? The CEO, of course. But also, to quote the Wall Street Journal, the "botched vetting" of the CEO by Yahoo’s Board of Directors who seem to have been in a rush to fill the position.

That’s a dramatic example of what can happen when we fail to heed the warning in today’s passage. The manager who hires too quickly is bound to hire a “fool.” She is “like an archer who wounds at random,” harming herself, the “fool” she hires, and the rest of her team.

How can...

It is a trap to dedicate something rashly and only later to consider one’s vows. (Proverbs 20:25)

How many times have you and I fallen into the “trap” this proverb is warning us against?

I’ve said “yes” to projects at work only to later renegotiate the deadline I could have never hit. I’ve agreed to volunteer at church only to grumble and complain about the commitment on Sunday morning.

Sound familiar?

You and I need practical ways to avoid the trap of saying “yes” too quickly and flippantly. Here are four practices that typically work for me.

#1: Delay every “yes” by at least 24 hours. It is really hard to say “no” if you feel pressured to give an answer to a request for your time the moment you’re asked. So, the next time you’re asked to dedicate your time to something, do whatever you can to delay responding for at least a day. Buy yourself some time by saying, “Let me sleep on...

One who is slack in his work is brother to one who destroys. (Proverbs 18:9)

There were many causes of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster of 1986. But a culture of “slack” work was undeniably a contributing factor. In his book, Midnight in Chernobyl, Adam Higginbotham explains that:

The quality of workmanship at all levels of Soviet manufacturing was so poor that building projects…were forced to incorporate an extra stage known as ‘preinstallation overhaul.’ Upon delivery from the factory, each piece of new equipment—transformers, turbines, switching gear—was stripped down to the last nut and bolt, checked for faults, repaired, and then reassembled according to the original specifications, as it should have been in the first place.

That’s an extreme example of what Solomon says in today’s passage—namely that mediocre work “destroys.”

Of course, it’s unlikely that poor performance in your job is going to lead...