Every year Charlie Brown is faced with the same challenge: Should he trust Lucy to hold the football in place for him to kick, knowing her record of pulling it away? All of us face similar challenges regularly, though not with a football, but with our hearts. Should we trust someone again who has hurt and wronged us?

Some believe that if we truly forgive a person who has wronged us we should also trust them. This view is provocative but not really biblical. David forgave but did not trust King Saul (I Samuel 19). Jesus forgave but did not trust men (John 2:23-25). Paul forgave but did not trust Alexander the metal worker (II Timothy 4:14-15). (Read More)

Many people get into trouble because they lack discernment. Maybe you have seen people get into bad relationships, business or personal, because they ignored their discernment radar. When the vibes were negative, they assumed they couldn’t be godly because they seemed so unloving and judgmental.

This misconception is fostered when Christians condemn fellow believers as being judgmental when they are trying, in reality, to be shrewd and discerning.  Interestingly, the one declaring the other as judgmental has made a judgment in their declaration! (Read More)