Chip Ingram is a pastor, teacher, author and coach. His passion is to help Christians learn how to be disciples of Christ by knowing the importance of a relationship with Him. He has written several books that touch upon other subjects as well, holiness, humility, love, faith, relationships and romance.
As we get close to God, he is going to reveal things in our life that aren't pretty. We'll see the patterns of bitterness, anger, manipulation, and hurt that have cycled in our relationships.
Holiness, has become relative in our day, allowing us to lower the bar and pick and choose which commandments we will obey...many Christians have a spiritual longing and desire to really change but they don't know how.
"The Truth": But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. (James 4:6)
I know for me, going back the person I've bad-mouthed or lied to is absolutely humiliating! But isn't it interesting that "humiliating" has the same root word as "humility"? Part of humility is taking responsibility for my sin and asking forgiveness even when it doesn't feel good. God wants to heal and restore your relationships, but it's not easy.
We need to own up to our own faults without excuses and without blaming, bring them to God, and confess them honestly before him. That’s the only way to stand firm against deception.
Love is giving someone what they need most, when they deserve it least, at great personal cost to yourself
When we fail to understand the difference between love and sex, we are doomed to failure in both our RELATIONSHIPS and our SEXUALITY‘
The first command in Ephesians 5 tells us to be imitators of God by reflecting the way he loves us. Our love for others flows out of our sense of being deeply loved. Instead of constantly looking for the right person, God tells us to become the right person. Instead of looking for love, God tells us to realize that love has already found us! God loves as no one else ever can.
Love sticks around even when it has a lot to put up with.
If your NOT willing to step out of your comfort zone, Forget the dream stuff. Without faith it's impossible to please HIM!
"The Truth": But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. (Hebrews 11:6)
Love says, “I’m with you, let’s deal with it.”
Loving others is not a one-time decision, it’s a lifestyle.
Many Christians 'stall out' in the faith when the call to total commitment is received or viewed as something too high or too hard to acquire...or they have never been taught that total commitment is Christ's demand for all His followers.
Research indicates that once an uncommitted couple gets involved in sexual intercourse, the relationship usually begins to end. They have reached the superficial end of the physical aspects of the relationship, and they have no particularly compelling reason to explore its depths.
Okay, here's how to do relationships - be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God, in Christ, also has forgiven you.
"The Truth": And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. (Ephesians 4:32)
If we are going to love somebody, we will not take, exploit, or cheapen him or her. We will not engage in sexual activity to create pseudo-intimacy that's false because we don't really care and we're not really committed. We won't substitute sex for authentic intimacy.
Nothing breaks down barriers and preconceived ideas about 'Christians and Christianity' more than when we treat people the way Jesus treated His enemies.
We have cultivated and developed this idea that if you're not fulfilled, if it's not ooey-gooey, if things aren't going you way, if you don't feel accepted, affirmed, then you must be with the wrong person, so find the right person.
God’s plan for you, whether you’re married, single, or about to be married, unless He gives you the gift of singleness, is to be in a warm, loving marriage relationship, characterized by open communication, a lot of hard work, deep commitment, setting boundaries, and doing it God’s way.
I hope you are blessed by these quotes as I have been. Share them with others and add some more in the comments below.
Resource – Scripture quotes from The Holy Bible, King James Version.