We often discover the truth about ourselves at the very moment we feel most confident. Our commitment to follow Jesus was sincere, yet we fell so easily when trials came! Shame whispers that we’re finished, that we’ve exhausted God’s patience, but God doesn’t abandon us when we fall. He restores what is broken and uses our wounds to deepen our faith. As we learn to depend less on our own strength and more on His, even our worst failures can become opportunities for spiritual growth and a renewed calling to strengthen others.

Are We Ashamed?
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As we trace the spread of the gospel through the book of acts, we learn that as it was preached it would cause two results; salvation for some who heard the message and persecution to those who brought the message. How is it that the Gospel can be considered “good news” if the people who share it are always getting beat up? So when Paul says that he’s not ashamed of the gospel, does he have in mind just the extrinsic fact of it, or the intrinsic effects of it on his own life?



