Roses of Grace

  There are a lot of popular sayings floating around—phrases that people reach for when they're searching for something encouraging to say. I'm sure you know what I mean. Phrases like "you are loved," "you are unique," "you are powerful." "You can do anything." "You are strong."  Those phrases tend to bug me. Part of me rebels against them: they're oversimplifications! That's not how life works! You can't just say the magic words to make everything better! The thing is, they're not all wrong. But I think it's our responsibility as Christians—Christians who are told to "rightly handle the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15)—to be careful with our words. And part of caring about truth means looking beyond the surface-level meaning of our words, and seeking to understand, Biblically, what is true.  So, here are four popular sayings, and the Biblical perspective about them!    #1: You are perfect the way th...

One day in ancient Israel, two men went to the temple. These men were very different—one of them was a Pharisee, a renowned teacher of the law, and one of them was a tax collector, a job infamous for its corruption and uncleanness.  If you grew up in the church, you probably know this story. In case you don't know it, I'll quote the rest from Luke 18:11–14:  'The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”' What if, instead of a Pharisee, it was a clean-cut church kid who's been ...