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Detrimental Relationships

August 28, 2022 • Bong Baylon

God creates us for relationships. But not all relationships are good for us. Some of them are detrimental to our spiritual lives and can harm us or make us ineffective and unproductive. Ironically, the detrimental relationships that the Bible warns us about are not with regard to unbelievers or the people in the world. The apostle Paul says in 1 Cor 5:9-10, "I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case, you would have to leave this world." The Bible warns us to watch out against certain types of believers within the church that can negatively influence us.

Disordered Desires

August 21, 2022 • Bong Baylon

Our ability to desire is basic to our humanity. God gave us this ability so that we will first desire Him and as a result find in Him the fulfillment of all our other desires. The apostle Paul said in Acts 17:26-27, "From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us." Unfortunately, our desires can also lead us away from God. Satan knows this. He uses our desires to deceive us so that we would be led astray.

War of the Worlds

August 14, 2022 • Bong Baylon

We have an invisible enemy working behind our visible reality. That visible reality is called the "world" in the Scriptures. This does not refer to the beautiful world that we live in (e.g. the mountains, the sky, the seas, etc.). It refers to the systems and philosophies of the world. We must understand the nature of "this" world as the Bible describes it so that we can understand also why we struggle in taking care of our souls and the souls of others.

The Invisible Enemy

August 7, 2022 • Bong Baylon

Why is it so hard to practice personal soul care in today's world? We usually complain about not having enough time or being too busy. Sometimes, we blame those around us for not helping us or they are hindering us. Or maybe we are not that motivated or interested in the first place. Whatever the reasons, the bottom line is that the struggle is real. It's never easy to practice personal soul care in today's world even though it is so essential to our spiritual well-being. How do we overcome this?