Too many followers of Jesus are chronically overextended and doing more for Jesus than their inner life with him can sustain. They have too much to do in too little time and say a default yes to requests and opportunities without carefully discerning God’s will. Overloaded and depleted constitute “normal” for their lives. *…
Enlarge Your Soul through Grief and Loss
Enlarge Your Soul through Grief and Loss Loss is a place where self-knowledge and powerful transformation can happen. Paying attention to our losses enlarges our souls — when we pour them out before the Lord (see Psalm 62:8) and participate in what God wants to do in us. We all face many “deaths” within our…
Fight Cleanly
No two people are alike. God created each of us different — with unique preferences, desires, values, and dreams. When we don’t know how to negotiate these differences with others, we can feel threatened and respond in immature ways, especially when under stress. As disciples of Jesus, we are called to navigate our differences and…
Explore the Iceberg
To “explore the iceberg” is to look beneath the surface of our lives, identifying the hidden but powerful forces that shape the way we navigate choices and relationships. By acknowledging and naming these realities, we raise our emotional awareness, which in turn enables us to process our emotions in a healthy way, and to integrate…
Our God Feels
The journey of genuine transformation to emotionally healthy spirituality begins with a commitment to allow yourself to feel. It is an essential part of our humanity and unique personhood as men and women made in God’s image. Scripture reveals God as an emotional being who feels — a Person. Having been created in his image,…
Quit Dying to the Wrong Things
A “Good, Loving Christian”? In my early Christian experience, I learned that a “good and loving Christian” embodied certain qualities. These messages were modeled and encouraged by the Christian subculture in which I was being formed spiritually. I wanted to be a good, loving Christian no matter the cost. And I mistakenly believed that good,…
Live and Lead in Brokenness and Vulnerability
In emotionally healthy churches, people live and lead out of brokenness and vulnerability. They understand that leadership in the kingdom of God is from the bottom up, not a grasping, controlling, or lording over others. It is leading out of failure and pain, questions and struggles — a serving that lets go. It is a…
You Can’t Be Spiritually Mature and Emotionally Immature
Many sincere followers of Christ, followers who are really passionate for God, join a church, participate weekly in a small group, serve with their gifts, and who are considered “mature,” remain stuck at a level of spiritual immaturity—especially when faced with interpersonal conflicts and crises. The Emotionally Healthy Spirituality video study and companion study guide by Peter…
Discovering God’s Purpose for Your Life
Church reformer and theologian John Calvin argued that there is no more exalted a description of a Christian than this: “We are God’s handiwork” (lit., “masterpiece”; Ephesians 2:10). Galaxies, stars, and solar systems can knock us breathless with God’s glory (Psalm 19:1), but only human beings who have experienced the miracle of a new birth…
Surrender to God
Encountering the Wall When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But…