Shame influences your life in massive ways. It generates many false beliefs that can lead you to hold back from others and yourself.

Here are a few ways that your shame might be affecting you more than you realize:

Saying ‘Yes’ to Everyone

You might feel the need to respond to everyone with “yes” all the time. This means you overcommit and work until you are depleted. But even Jesus took time away in the course of His ministry on Earth.

“And when he had sent them away, he departed into a mountain to pray.” - Mark 6:46 KJV

If anyone could have made justifications and overextended Himself, it was Jesus. After all, He could have thought, “I am only here for 33 years. I should do all possible miracles in this time!”

But He did not. He attached importance to rest, and in doing so, He created a framework for us to follow too.

Feeling trapped in the Pain

Many women know the shame and pain that comes from sexual abuse and assault. But God wishes to restore your heart and repair your fr...

Prayer aligns our hearts with God and His purposes. Prayer exists throughout the Bible. Jesus often withdrew from groups and his disciples to spend time in prayer. Jesus has promised us good things from God—his Father and ours. He does not promise to answer our specific demands, but he invites us to pray and promises to give us good things.

God loves us. He communicates with us out of His word and our prayers. The thought of prayer as a conversation seems so simple on the surface. But when you first start to pray, it can feel more like a monologue. After all, you are talking, but you are not hearing anything. Or are you?

God DOES speak back. It might not be audible, but He WILL speak to you in your spirit the more time you spend talking to Him in your prayer life.

It is easy to miss God’s voice because He does not always respond right away or precisely as we had anticipated. You might pray about money troubles only to find twenty dollars later in the day when you are at the...

God Answers Every Prayer

Christians widely believe that a prayer is a powerful tool for making a difference in the world. But, sometimes Christians assume that their prayer is unanswered if God did not give them what they asked for in prayer.

Yet God always answers His children. Every single time. Every single prayer. In all of history, there have never been nor will there ever be unanswered prayers.

The primary purpose of prayer is to glorify God in any and every situation. God answers every prayer. Not all of our prayers are satisfied with the way we hope or on the anticipated timeline. Maybe you prayed to be married by twenty-five. Perhaps you prayed for a cure for your daughter’s illness.

God could respond to your prayers for a godly spouse when you are twenty-seven or forty-seven. God might answer your prayers for your daughter’s illness after she has suffered for five, ten, or even twenty years.

But when our circumstances do not change, it is often an indicat...

Women seem to spend a lot of time looking for the meaning of life or dreaming of living a happier, more fulfilling life. It is easy to find contentment in buying more prominent, more expensive things, from cars and homes to watches and designer handbags. But just collecting more and more stuff does not make you happy. It makes you frustrated and dissatisfied. The answer to fulfillment is much more straightforward. It is within your innermost self.

Luke 1:45 KJV, "And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord."

Here are 4 Tips for Fulfillment:

1.  Understand the innermost you

Fulfillment lies in knowing yourself – the good, the bad, and the ugly – and acknowledging it.

Romans 7:22-23 KJV, "²² For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: ²³ But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members."

 

Y...

One of the greatest questions many women face is, “What is my purpose?” It can be difficult to discern our lives true meaning and direction in a world filled with various demands and expectations. However, as Christian women, we are called to seek God’s purpose for our lives rather than pursuing what the world deems important. Aligning our lives with God’s will brings fulfillment and peace that surpasses all understanding.

God has created each of us with a specific purpose in mind. Jeremiah 29:11 is a verse that offers hope and assurance: “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” This verse reminds us that God has already mapped out a plan for us, a plan that is filled with peace, hope, and purpose. By aligning our lives with His will, we can discover what that “expected end” is.

Discovering Your God-Given Purpose

The journey to aligning one’s life with God’s purpose begins with discovery. T...

Some women contend that, in its simplest form, life is a series of choices. This is true. It is not that simple because life itself is not that simple. The complexity of life or, rather, living life means that the choices the average woman faces over a lifetime are equally complex. These choices range from simple survival decisions (Should I eat that mushroom?) to difficult moral personal choices (Should I speak out against this injustice and incur increased personal risk?). 

The one thing that all these decisions have in common is the option of action and outcome. However, because the nature of these actions and their potential consequences vary wildly, a strategy can only encompass the decision process. This is where an understanding of what a decision is becomes important.

A decision is simply the action of deciding something. A woman faced with a choice makes a choice. The most basic example of this is the proverbial fork in the road. When facing a fork in the road, you can...

As Christian women, we often reflect on what it means to be faithful stewards of what God has given us. Stewardship is not just about managing resources but also about the commitment to honor God with all that we have. In everything we do, God calls us to be faithful with 100 percent, not just the parts we feel confident about or the areas that seem most comfortable. Being faithful in every aspect of our lives means committing our time, talents, finances, and relationships to God's purpose. It’s about giving our all, holding nothing back, and trusting that God will bless our faithfulness.

KJV Scripture

Luke 16:10 (KJV): “He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.”

This verse highlights the importance of being faithful even in the smallest of matters. When we are trustworthy and diligent in the little things, God sees that we can be trusted with greater things. This principle applies to every area...

Our society greatly emphasizes material possessions such as cars, homes, and clothes. We tend to derive our value and social status from these things and aspire to acquire more money, houses, and vehicles. Despite our relentless pursuit of these things, we fail to find true happiness. Rather than feeling grateful for what we do have, we often envy those who have more than us, creating a sense of dissatisfaction in our lives.

As Christians, it can be challenging to live according to Biblical principles while also struggling with jealousy. Imagine constantly trying to outdo our neighbors, coworkers, or family members. The pressure to compete can be overwhelming and ultimately cause us to lose sight of what truly matters - relationships, children, and health. Placing too much value on material possessions can leave us feeling unfulfilled and create an inner tension that takes away from our happiness. Remember that true happiness cannot be achieved by accumulating material possessions,...

 Sadly, some communities describe praying to God almost as a type of genie. If you say the correct words at the proper time, then voilà, God grants your wish! We act like we know what we need in this life if only he would respond to our demands.

This attitude misses the whole point of what prayer is and what its purpose is.

The problem with this tactic is that prayer is about fostering a relationship. A relationship with the Creator of Heaven and Earth. The One who knit every one of your cells together, who knows you more deeply than you know yourself (Psalm 139:13-14). A relationship with God in prayer, based on the vending machine principle, is inherently self-centered spirituality.

In healthy relationships, you have the freedom to say “yes” or “no” to someone’s request. You can say “yes” if you want to cook dinner this evening. You can say “no” if you would rather go out for dinner instead.

You have the beautiful gift of free choice. Yet many Christians do not fe...

If Jesus, His kingdom, and His righteousness are the first priority in your life, all other matters of your life find their places. "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:" Ecclesiastes 3:1. But when you allow Jesus to slip from His throne, every matter in your life fights for pre-eminence. To make it through the struggles in life, we need to find our strength in Jesus.

Making Time for Jesus a Priority

Visa or Mastercard—are you even presented that choice anymore?

Take-out or delivery—that is a familiar phrase, especially during the COVID shutdown.

Hot or iced…coffee, that is.

Women are all faced with numerous choices every single day of our lives. Yet, we make nearly all of them without putting much (if any) thought into what we are doing. It is as if we are on auto-pilot. But why do you make the choices you make?

The solution to that question is simple: We make choices centered on our wants or desires. Now I realize some of you are s...