Posts by "Lori Beard"
Comparison - The Root of Many Sins
Recently, I was standing in the check out line at Walmart on a Sunday right after church (I know, I know....really). But here I was. And in front of me were two ladies practicing great patience and kindness with the cashier who was not really happy to be there. They had clearly just left church too. They were dressed in flowered skirts to their knees and their hair was neat as a pin. I immediately thought of a much younger; much more arrogant me.
Self-Esteem: The Big Fat Lie
Self-esteem=big fat lie. Do you want to know the truth? You have not been getting it from the psychology world or the secular counseling world for a very long time. In fact, I think we have never heard the truth from those worlds at all in the matter of self-esteem. We have, instead, as Christians, been buying into a lie that is eating into the fabric of who we really are and what our worth really is.
I am Woman
Let me confess right off the bat that womanhood is a mystery to me. I can honestly say that after 53 years of being a woman, I am still figuring it out. That being said, I do know a couple of things for sure and thought I would pass them on. We deal in a world that thinks what we FEEL is truth. Well, that is simply not so. Truth is absolute; like 2+2=4. Even if I wished it equaled 100, well, it does not. So, it is with womanhood. There are some absolute truths to be known about being a woman.
Dependence
Recently I have been studying Isaiah. It has been revealing to say the least. It has also been very convicting. It appears to me that the overarching theme of Isaiah is our dependence on ourselves as opposed to God.
Bitter Women Make Bitter Enemies
I have seen bitterness run rampant and destroy marriages and relationships with children in horrible ways. I have sat with women who are harboring bitterness like a treasure. They have stored it away in their hearts in a safe place. They say things like, "It does not affect my life. I am just not ready to lay it down. I control my emotions well enough that it does not affect me."
Contentment
Phil. 4:12 I have learned the secret of being content in everything.
Come on Paul. Tell me the secret. Yell that secret to working mommas who yearn to be home. Tell it to stay at home moms who yearn to get away from their kid. What is the secret? What did you learn? How about wives who are married to Christian fellas and are loved but not loved quite like the lady married to so and so. Their man does not do date night, he does not say sweet things. Can you teach contentment, Paul, to the ones who are living life so fast that there is no time to breathe? Bible time? Ha! Prayer time? Ha! Fellowship? Ha! Always gotta go and be doing. More sports, more shows, more stuff. More this and that, but no contentment. Paul, were you really content in money and stuff? Did you really learn to be okay with little and with less? Can you teach that to me? Because I often think I have to have more. I am like the more monster. Some is never enough. Cliff works overtime and we miss him BUT the overtime is good because regular pay is never enough. Well, what is the secret? I clearly need to know. We clearly need to know, because we are drowning in discontentment. So how do we "learn" contentment? Well, I go to the same source I have gone to for years - my Bible. The sweetest source of truth ever. So, what does the Bible say?