Ambition

You should know better than to say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to the city. We will do business there for a year and make a lot of money!”

What do you know about tomorrow? How can you be so sure about your life? It is nothing more than the mist that appears for only a little while before it disappears.

You should say, “If the Lord lets us live, we will do these things.”

Yet you are stupid enough to brag, and it is wrong to be so proud.

• James 4:13-16

Choices

My choice is you, God, first and only.
And now I find I’m your choice!

• Psalm 16:5

Compromise

Therefore, everyone who acknowledges me before people, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven.

But everyone who denies me before people, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.

• Matthew 10:32-33

Conscience

Keep a clear conscience before God so that when people throw mud at you, none of it will stick.

They’ll end up realizing that they’re the ones who need a bath.

• 1 Peter 3:16

Depression

Pile your troubles on God’s shoulders—
he’ll carry your load, he’ll help you out.

• Psalm 55:22

Direction

Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own.

Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track.

Don’t assume that you know it all. Run to God! Run from evil!

• Proverbs 3:5-7

Encouragement

Stay with God!
Take heart. Don’t quit.
I’ll say it again:
Stay with God.

• Psalm 27:14

Family

Wives, understand and support your husbands by submitting to them in ways that honor the Master.

Husbands, go all out in love for your wives. Don’t take advantage of them.

Children, do what your parents tell you. This delights the Master no end.

Parents, don’t come down too hard on your children or you’ll crush their spirits.

• Colossians 3:18-21

Freedom

Then Jesus said, “If you remain in My word, then you are truly My disciples. You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.”

• John 8:31-32

Gossip

Don’t talk out of both sides of your mouth; avoid careless banter, white lies, and gossip.

• Proverbs 4:24

Grief

You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.

• Matthew 5:4

Habits

Slack habits and sloppy work are as bad as vandalism.

• Proverbs 18:9

Health

A cheerful disposition is good for your health; gloom and doom leave you bone-tired.

• Proverbs 17:22

Honesty

Better to be poor and honest than a rich person no one can trust.

• Proverbs 19:1

Laziness

Stay calm; mind your own business; do your own job. You’ve heard all this from us before, but a reminder never hurts.

We want you living in a way that will command the respect of outsiders, not lying around sponging off your friends.

• 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12

Lust

You know the next commandment pretty well, too: ‘Don’t go to bed with another’s spouse.’

But don’t think you’ve preserved your virtue simply by staying out of bed. Your heart can be corrupted by lust even quicker than your body.

Those ogling looks you think nobody notices—they also corrupt.

• Matthew 5:27-28

Lying

God keeps his word even when the whole world is lying through its teeth.

• Romans 3:4

Materialism

If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God’s love?

It disappears. And you made it disappear.

• 1 John 3:17

Motives

We may think we are doing the right thing,
but the Lord always knows what is in our hearts.

• Proverbs 21:2

Obedience

Merely hearing God’s law is a waste of your time if you don’t do what he commands. Doing, not hearing, is what makes the difference with God.

• Romans 2:13

Prayer

God’s there, listening for all who pray, for all who pray and mean it.

• Psalm 145:18

Promises

What difference does it make if you make your promise inside or outside a house of worship? A promise is a promise.

God is present, watching and holding you to account regardless.

• Matthew 23:20

Rebellion

Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another—showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God’s way.

• 2 Timothy 3:16

Reputation

Earn a reputation for living well in God’s eyes and the eyes of the people.

• Proverbs 3:4

Satisfaction

Humans are satisfied with whatever looks good; God probes for what is good.

• Proverbs 16:2

Self-Image

Let’s just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren’t.

• Romans 12:6

Sensitivity

Be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble.

• 1 Peter 3:8

Sex

Honor marriage, and guard the sacredness of sexual intimacy between wife and husband. God draws a firm line against casual and illicit sex.

• Hebrews 13:4

Singleness

Sometimes I wish everyone were single like me—a simpler life in many ways! But celibacy is not for everyone any more than marriage is.

God gives the gift of the single life to some, the gift of the married life to others.

• 1 Corinthians 7

Stress

The minute I said, “I’m slipping, I’m falling,” your love, God, took hold and held me fast.
When I was upset and beside myself,
you calmed me down and cheered me up.

• Psalm 94:18-19

Temptation

if bad companions tempt you, don’t go along with them.

• Proverbs 1:10

Truth

There’s trouble ahead when you live only for the approval of others, saying what flatters them, doing what indulges them.

Popularity contests are not truth contests.

• Luke 6:26

Violence

Evil people are restless unless they’re making trouble;
They can’t get a good night’s sleep unless they’ve made life miserable for somebody.
Perversity is their food and drink, violence their drug of choice.

• Proverbs 4:16-17

Wisdom

Become wise by walking with the wise;
hang out with fools and watch your life fall to pieces.

• Proverbs 13:20

Worries

Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns.

Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down.

It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

• Philippians 4:6-7