Posts from July 2019

Toy smartphone and robot assistant.

But I need it

Most of us probably use the verb need a little too loosely. Man, my phone is ancient—I’ve had it almost two years—I really need a new one. These clothes are so last year . . . I need some new ones. We really need to redecorate the house . . . It’s getting kinda dated, you know? The automaker convinces us that a four-year-old car that’s missing most of the latest bells and whistles is beneath us . . . We need something better, and…
Blue gift boxes

Giving gifts

Most of us like receiving an occasional gift—maybe for a birthday or for Christmas or some other special occasion. It makes us feel sorta special like someone cares for us. The apostle Paul takes an interesting approach to receiving gifts, it seems, and it’s probably because he wants us to learn an important lesson. He’s in prison, and it’s fascinating to think of his eyes lighting up when a friend from Philippi brought him a gift from the home church…
Thoughtful man looking out the window

Just-Around-The-Corner Contentment?

There’s a tendency to postpone contentment or to explain away why we don’t have it right now. The condition is so common that it’s got its own street name: the “Greener Grass Syndrome.” Sometimes the good life is almost within grasp, just the other side of a 5% raise. Or it’s in that house just across town, the pretty one with 500 more square feet and the fenced-in back yard and the better school district and less traffic. Yep, I’d…