Somebody somewhere decided that teachers deserve apples. And they were right. They deserve more than that, but the gift of an apple is a beautiful instinct, a simple way of saying what you do matters, and so do you. A child handing their teacher a big Red Delicious is really handing them honor. Gratitude with…

Here’s a fact: nobody else can eat for you. They can cook the meal, set the table, cut your food, and even bring it to your mouth. But when it comes to chewing and swallowing, you’re on your own. Spiritual growth works the same way. Apostle Paul delivers a sharp line in Galatians 6:3: “If…

The Bible calls us to do hard things. Forgive those who hurt you. Love your enemies. Deny yourself. But Galatians 6:1-2 contains a command that is doubly hard, “If anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the…

Christy and I love walking together at Okatibbee Lake, both the dam area and the beach area. It’s beauty is unmatched in our area. There’s something about those walks that just settles you. But early on I learned that if I’m going to walk with her, I have to walk like her. Match her stride.…

What is your favorite fruit? Picking a favorite fruit is almost impossible, isn’t it? Watermelon on a hot July afternoon. A cold, Honeycrisp apple. Strawberries straight from the vine. Peaches so juicy they drip down your elbow. Pineapple cut up in every shape and size, and even on your pizza. Grapes so plump and sweet…

Have you ever heard of the durian fruit? It’s a large, spiky fruit from Southeast Asia with a smell so foul it’s been banned from hotels and public transportation. People describe the odor as garbage, sewage, and rotting flesh all at once. The outside looks exotic, but the inside is straight up nasty. Galatians 5…

We read in the book of Galatians a glorious truth for all Christians: you have been set free! That’s great news. But here’s a question every single one of us must consider: for what purpose was I set free? Apostle Paul gives us the answer in chapter 5: serve one another in love. The same…

Down South, when you meet somebody new, there’s one question that comes after they find out your name: “Who’s your mama? Who’s your daddy?” Bloodline matters. Heritage matters. Everybody wants to know where you come from before they decide what to make of you. Well, Apostle Paul asks the same question in Galatians 4, but…

Frederick Douglass escaped slavery in 1838 and never looked back. He could have. The North was cold, unfamiliar, dangerous. But Douglass understood something deeply: a man who has tasted freedom cannot untaste it. Going back was unthinkable. It’s this truism that caused Apostle Paul to be so bewildered by the Galatians in Galatians 4. Before…

We live in an age of labels. Political. Racial. Sexual. Generational. Economic. Every day, someone is sorting us into categories. And we’re often sorting ourselves. The divisions feel permanent, like walls with no doors. But in Galatians 3, Apostle Paul had a word for first-century people who were doing the same thing. Before Christ came,…