Devotional for friends // Devocional para as amigas

Idols. I have written about them before. But I think it is something that they are never old-fashioned. Because everybody may have an idol and haven’t realized it yet.  We have seen more and more lately people “choosing” to not believe in God. Or more especially disbelieving in the God of Christianity. It seems old fashion these days being a Christian, so they say. It is cooler to be a Buddhist or an “atheist”. Even if they say that they don’t have a God or god, everybody does.  It may not be the God of the Universe, but may be their kids, their houses, their money, their career, or their partner (it is old-fashion to say husband, wife, boyfriend, or girlfriend). Anything or anyone who someone really loves, and put it above anything else, and probably would give their lives just to save theirs, has become an idol or a god.  People don’t like the Christianity God because it is hard. It is trouble. They want something they can deal with their own way. They have to be able to manage it. T

 This image is awesome!  Essa imagem é ótima! There are people who love too little themselves and people who love themselves too much. What do you think? Is it a good or bad thing being in one of these two categories? I know for a fact a person who loves himself too little. Is this person able to love another as he loves himself? Is he abiding to Jesus’ commandment? How do you expect him to love the other if he loves himself too little? Too little? Not exactly I dare to say. Why? Because this person might consider himself unworthy compared to the other, therefore, this person might give more to others than he does to himself. His self-esteem is too low to think that anybody could measure down to him. Everybody would be better than him, therefore, he might love the other, or he might envy the other because he doesn’t look like the other, or see the worth himself, he also won’t see the worth of others. This is a conundrum. Does he or does he not love the other as himself as Jesus command

  For this very reason,  make every effort  to supplement your faith with virtue, [ e ]  and virtue with knowledge, 6  and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness,   7  and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.   8  For if these qualities [ f ]  are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.   9  For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.   10  Therefore, brothers, [ g ]  be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you  practice  these qualities you will never fall. 11  For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:5-11).     We read our Bible every day and sometimes get caught up in a few words we hadn’t before. Like

  What makes you lose your temper? What makes you lose your coolness? Same question, right? How can we be more self-controlled? I am looking for that myself. It is not that I am a very stressed or loose-cannon myself, but sometimes in the heat of an argument, I also say things that I regret later. Why? Why do these things keep happening to me? Or dare I say “to us”? I don’t have the answer, if I had I would be a much better person.    I think this is the most common sin (some wanted to call it a mistake), but it is a sin. Not the fact of lack of self-control but what the result of not having self-control means.    Having self-control is important to all of us, and we can never hide behind the excuse of “I was born like this”, yeah, for sure you were. Because we are all born sinners. We give in to this flaw and we sin immediately.   Can you think about one time, just one time, when you lost control of yourself and something very good and extraordinary happened because of it? Something t