Devotional for friends // Devocional para as amigas

The other day I was watching a sermon, that lately, the preacher has become my favorite, about idolatry, work as an idol. But this is not what I am going to talk about. I was thinking about idols, yes. But a different kind of idol. Idols that we usually don’t see as such. We don’t see them as such because we can’t call them an idol, I guess. But let me try.   We know what an idol means in biblical terms. An idol is everything that gets more attention than God. Everything that has more importance, that comes first. How do we know that we have an idol? Ask yourself what the most important thing is now in your life which you cannot live without. That is your idol. In the very beginning of Exodus 20, God says, “you shall have no other god before me”. In Matthew Jesus said, “Love your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind”. This is the point that I wanted to get to.   “- An idol is everything that we...

  Where are you going after here? So, some people think that when they die, that is it, Game over. Nothing else.   Some think they will come back to try to make it better. A new chance. The game is not over yet. You die and keep coming back to life forever. Will you ever rest?   Others think that depending on how they have lived this life they can come back as any other form of life, meaning you can come back as anything like an ant, a tree, or a human being.   There are those who think they will have a harem of virgins.   And those who wish to have their own planet.   And obviously, some people believe in accountability, reward, and eternity, heaven, and hell. Let’s see if any of these “alternatives” are good.   n.1 If after this life I cease of existing, I can ask “what is the purpose then?” I could have lived the way I wanted without thinking about the consequences. There ...

Have you ever thought about what kind of person others think of you? I mean, not that I am interested in their opinion, no. That is not it. I mean, what kind of impression are you leaving on people? What would they say behind your back? Of course, we all want to leave a good impression; a person known for being kind, gentle, good, with self-control, selfless, trustful, truthful, etc. But for real, have we?   You know, people say that our true self is only revealed in the chambers of our own houses, especially with family. Also, it is said that we tend to hurt those who we love the most. Weird statements, although I kind of agree with them; there are some people who have nothing to hide (neither good nor bad). But if we rationalize a little bit, we can ask ourselves, why would I hurt my family? I would say not really intentionally, in most of the cases. Yet, we often do hurt them. When we are with them, we can reveal ourselves, if we are ...