I bet you have them in your church, don’t you? Hypocrites. You know, those people that are all excited and saying Amen all the time during the message at church. Then when you see them at the grocery store Monday, they’re cursing the cashier because he got their total wrong? You think, how can that person be a Christian? Or, if that’s what it means to be a Christian, I want nothing to do with it.

How do I deal with hypocrites?

That’s a good question to ask. The truth is, you’re always going to have them around you. Those people that say the right thing but do something else when no one else is looking.

So how do you live for Jesus when His children are so hypocritical?

A good place to start is what is your basis for your relationship with Jesus? Is it other people? Do you determine the closeness of your relationship based on what others do or say?

Hopefully, if your honest, you won’t say that’s the case. Your relationship with Jesus is YOURS. It shouldn’t be based on your experiences or any one else’s relationship. And yes, those Christians should be doing the right thing, but don’t let their mistakes hinder your relationship with Jesus.

My goal is to know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, – Phil 3:10 (HCSB)

Instead, get close to Jesus, know HIM. Let His word guide you. He wants to know you and become real to you regardless of what others say or do.

That is why we are not discouraged. Though outwardly we are wearing out, inwardly we are renewed day by day. – 2 Corinthians 4:16

It can be so easy to get discouraged in life. Life can be hard at times, especially with all the things we’ve been going through lately. Sometimes we face difficulties and situations that push us to our limits. So when we’re in the middle of those tough times, how can we keep ourselves encouraged?

One of the best ways to encourage yourself is to get some eternal perspective on your situation. That’s what today’s Bible verse offers us. We see in this verse that the things we face are only temporary. Our bodies are wearing out and one day we will no longer face the challenges of this life here on Earth. However, we do have hope. Our spirit, the real us, is being renewed day by day.

Today’s Truth: Jesus didn’t leave us Without HOPE!

So even though the situations we face seem really big and really tough, we don’t have to be discouraged by what we face. We take comfort in the fact that what we face is only temporary. In our struggles, we get the opportunity to grow in our knowledge of Jesus. We realize that He can’t go back on His promises and He will never leave us without help.

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There is so much division and hate right now going on in the world. We see people continually being mad about how people leadership are handling COVID. We see our friends being fickle and even bullying others around us.

All the unkindness and hate that is going on right now makes you wonder, why is there so much hate right now in the world?

Why is there HATE in the World?

That’s a great question. Why is there hate in the world? How come people don’t love and treat others with respect?

That’s a deep question to answer, but part of it is due to the fact that many people either don’t know Jesus or haven’t let the love of Jesus rule their hearts and lives.

And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. – Romans 5:5 (NLT)

It’s hard to love others if you don’t first know that you’re loved by Jesus. When we know that fact and let the Holy Spirit fill our hearts with His love, it leads us to love others.

However, not everyone will choose to let the love of God flow out of them. Instead, it’s easier to respond in hate, anger and out of our flesh. So when you see hate in the world around you, use it as an opportunity to pray for those people.

Prayer changes things. So challenge yourself to pray for them to see how much God loves them and walk in that love each day.

Read: Tips for Dealing with Mean People

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. – Colossians 3:15

I noticed recently that I hadn’t had a lot of peace. I’d been stressed out about my job and relationships and there was absolutely no peace ruling in my heart. I wanted to curl up in bed and not come out for a long time.

You’ve probably faced circumstances like I have that made you want to tune everything in the world out. Maybe an assignment, teacher or tough relationship has been stressing you out. It’s hard to have peace in your heart when it seems like so many things are against you, externally.

Today’s Bible verse says something interesting about peace. At the end of the verse, it tells us to be thankful. How do we practice being thankful when things are going so wrong? I believe it’s by starting to be thankful. Even when things are hard there is something you can find to be thankful about. When you focus your energy on being thankful, even for the smallest things, it’s a lot easier to be at peace.

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Do you feel angry with your parents a lot? If so, you’re not alone. Anger at your parents often comes when you feel misunderstood. And while it’s ok to have those feelings, God wants us to develop, grow, and become mature in Him.

We can do that by focusing in on the fruit of the spirit. God tells us that He’s given us the Holy Spirit to produce those fruit in our lives.

But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, – Galatians 5:22 (NLT)

So while our natural reaction might be to snap at our parents, we have to realize that we’re filled with the Holy Spirit. So we need to begin to tap into the Holy Spirit and let the fruit He produces flow out of our lives.

This isn’t to say you’re going to be perfect at self-control. No. We all mess up, lose our cool from time to time. However, we should be striving to be more like Christ and to let the fruit of the spirit flow out of our lives.

Have you noticed how easy it is to lose self-control? One minute you’re happy, a minute later, the kid on your bus spits his gum onto your backpack and you become full of anger toward him.

The truth is, God wants to turn us from angry, upset, stressed-out people to those full of self-control.

But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, – Galatians 5:22 (NLT)

Even if the idea of developing self-control in your life seems kind of hard, boring or scary, in reality it’s not that bad. Today’s Bible verse gives us the key.

It says the Holy Spirit produces those fruits in your life. That means that you don’t have to work hard to produce them. Instead, you have to realize that you’re full of the Holy Spirit and tap into His help.

Think of it this way. Let’s say your mom has a bag of snacks in a bag at your house. The snacks are there for you. You have every right to go grab a snack out of the bag. The snacks have been provided for you, it’s just up to you to go get one.

When it comes to self-control the same is true. The Holy Spirit is producing self-control in your life, you’ve just got to choose to use it.

So today, if you’ve struggled with self-control, be encouraged. Don’t look at all the ways you’ve failed, but rather realize that the Holy Spirit is working with you to develop self-control in your life.

I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.” – Psalm 91:2

What do you think of when you think about trust? Do you think of someone always having your back? Do you think about someone who does what they say? What does trust mean to you?

When it comes to relationships, most of the time trust comes with time. As time passes, you see the person in a variety of different situations and you begin to see who they really are. You begin to see how they think and respond to situations. And over time, you begin to trust that person. You begin to know if what they say is true and if they’ll follow through.

Today’s Bible verse is all about trust. Can you say that God is who you trust? Have you spent time getting to know Him, getting to see how He responds in different situations, and building trust with Him? God is someone you can rely on and trust in, but to build that trust, you’ve got to spend time reading your Bible. That’s one of the best ways you can get to know God. You begin to see in the Bible how God responded to different people throughout history. You can see that God always comes through and is faithful. To build trust in God, you’ve got to spend time reading the Bible.

So challenge yourself today to spend time getting to know the God of the Bible. Take some time out of your day to read some of the great stories in the Old Testament of how God came through for His people. As you do, you begin to realize that He will do the same for you!

What is a Bible verse that has helped you trust God more? Leave a comment below and let us know!

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. – 2 Timothy 1:7 (KJV)

For most of us, the school year has been going now for a few weeks. Whether you’re meeting at home, online or in person, the newness of it has probably worn off. Now you’re faced with homework, sports, friendship drama and lots of other stressors.

It’s easy when life starts getting full and busy and maybe even a little crazy to begin to get stressed out. The truth about stress is that it’s really a form of fear.

Stress is rooted in fear.

Perhaps you’re stressed out about homework. If you’re honest, are you fearful that you don’t understand it, or that you won’t get it done in the time you have to do it each night?

Maybe relationships stress you out. Deep down, you’re afraid you won’t be accepted or that you’ll miss out on something really fun.

If we’re not careful, the stress of life will keep us from really enjoying those blessings God puts around us. So today, if the newness of school has worn off and you’re starting to feel stress, remember stress isn’t of God. God hasn’t given us a spirit of fear, but rather of power, love, and a sound mind!

Leave us a comment and let us know how we can encourage you. We know school is stressful, but we’re here to encourage you that with God’s help you can make it through!