Dangraphics International

25/07/2024

The Cost of Anger

By Rick Warren — 07/25/2024

“People with understanding control their anger; a hot temper shows great foolishness.”
Proverbs 14:29 (NLT)

When someone is angry with you, it’s easy to show anger in return. But before you allow yourself to get mad back, calculate what you’re going to lose. Calculate the cost of anger.

The Bible is extremely specific about uncontrolled anger. Proverbs 29:22 says, “An angry person causes trouble; a person with a quick temper sins a lot” (NCV). In Proverbs 15:18, you read, “Hot tempers cause arguments” (GNT). And Proverbs 14:29 says, “A hot temper shows great foolishness” (NLT).

When you let anger take control, there is a cost. You’re going to get in trouble. You’re going to sin. You’re going to cause arguments. You’re going to make mistakes.

When you lose your temper, you always lose. You may lose someone’s respect, the love of your family, your health, or even your job.

Maybe you’re someone who uses anger to motivate people to do the right thing. Don’t do it! You may get the short-term payoff. But in the long run, anger always produces more anger, more apathy, and more alienation.

How many kids have become alienated from a parent because of out-of-control anger? How many people have been alienated from a boyfriend, a girlfriend, a husband, a wife, or a friend because somebody lost their cool? Anger destroys relationships faster than anything else.

If you realize there’s always a price for returning anger for anger, you’re less likely to get angry when somebody’s pushing your buttons.

So before you retaliate, ask yourself, “Do I really want to do this? Do I want to make mistakes? Do I want to sin more? Do I want to cause arguments? Do I want to act foolish?”

Proverbs 14:29 says, “People with understanding control their anger; a hot temper shows great foolishness” (NLT).

Anger always comes with a price tag. Before you retaliate, calculate the cost. Then choose the wise path of controlling your anger.

Talk It Over

What methods do you use to keep your cool when someone gets angry at you or attacks you?

What has uncontrolled anger cost your relationships?

Some people choose to lead by anger and intimidation. What’s a better way to lead people?

Will you follow Jesus today?

God proved his goodness through his Son, Jesus Christ. The Bible says, “For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16 CSB).

Are you ready to trust God to fulfill his promise of eternal life through Jesus? If so, start with this simple prayer: “Dear God, I confess I’ve lived life my own way and sinned against you. I ask for your forgiveness. I believe that Jesus Christ is your Son, that he died to take away my sins and that you raised him to life. I want to trust Jesus as my Savior and follow him as Lord from this day forward. Guide my life and help me to do your will. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.”

If you just prayed to accept Jesus, please email me at [email protected] and let me know about it. I’d like to send you some free materials to help you start your journey with Jesus.

17/06/2024

Don’t Confuse Your Work and Your Worth

By Rick Warren — 06/17/2024

“I have also learned why people work so hard to succeed: it is because they envy the things their neighbors have. But it is useless. It is like chasing the wind.” Ecclesiastes 4:4 (GNT)

We can come up with many excuses for overworking. Sometimes we blame it on needing to provide for our family. Other times we insist our work is so important that to slow down would be negligent.

But usually, it’s a values problem. We start valuing the wrong things. Specifically, we value the acquisition of stuff above all else.

The Bible says, “I have also learned why people work so hard to succeed: it is because they envy the things their neighbors have. But it is useless. It is like chasing the wind” (Ecclesiastes 4:4 GNT).

God says we have two options: We can either spend all our time keeping up with the Joneses, or we can forget them and reduce our stress level—but we can’t have both.

That’s how this becomes a question of values. Do you want more stuff, or do you want less stress and more time with your family and friends? The choice is yours.

Jesus said it like this: “What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” (Mark 8:36 NIV). Or, “What good is it to become president of your company but lose your kids or your spouse?”

The simple answer? It’s not good at all.

Your work and your worth are two different things. Maybe you grew up being told you’re worthless, and you’re out in the workplace trying to prove everyone wrong. In the back of your mind, you’re telling yourself, “I’m going to show them. I’m going to prove them wrong.” You work harder and harder, but no matter how hard you work, it’s never enough. Just about the time you start to relax, you hear a haunting voice telling you, “Keep pedaling. Somebody’s catching up!” You need to get rid of the voice. It’s feeding you a lie.

As a pastor, I was by many bedsides as people died. I’ve seen many people take their last breath, sometimes at a hospital, sometimes in a home, and sometimes at the scene of an accident. Among all of the people I’ve watched die in my life, I’ve never heard anyone say with their dying breath, “I wish I’d spent more time at the office.”

Not one.

Don’t you think it’s time to adjust your values? Get out of the rat race.

Talk It Over

How has overwork affected your family? Your health? Your relationship with God?

When you’ve struggled with overwork in your life, what have been the primary causes?

In what ways do you sometimes equate your work with your worth?

Have you accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior?

The Bible says we all fall short of God’s perfect standard. Yet God still loves us, even though we sin and we’re flawed. In fact, God loves us so much that he sent his Son, Jesus, to cleanse us from our sins and to bring us into God’s family.

If you’ve never accepted God’s love and invited Jesus into your heart, I want you to have that opportunity now. Start with this simple prayer –

“Dear God, I don’t understand it all, but I thank you that you love me. I thank you that you are for me and that you sent Jesus to save me, not condemn me.

“I confess that I have sinned against you, and I admit I need Jesus as my Savior. I want a relationship with him. I want to follow him and do the things he tells me to do.

“I ask you to save me from my past, my regrets, my mistakes, my sins, my habits, my hurts, and my hang-ups. Please save me for your purpose. I want to know why you put me on this planet, and I want to fulfill what you made me to do. I want to learn to love you and trust you, and I want to be in your family forever. In your name I pray. Amen.”

If you just prayed that prayer, let me know by emailing me at [email protected]. I want to encourage you in your journey with Jesus and send you some free materials to help you take your first steps.

11/04/2023

To Hear God, Be Still and Listen

By Rick Warren — 04/11/2023

“Pause a moment, Job, and listen; consider the wonderful things God does.” Job 37:14 (GNT)

The first phase God uses to grow your faith is when he gives you a dream. But to hear this dream, you have to listen for God’s voice—and that means you have to silence the noise around you.

The Bible says God speaks in a still, small voice, so you can’t hear him in the whirlwind of a chaotic life. You can’t hear God with the TV on or when you’re distracted by all the things you need to do today.

You may think God never speaks to you. But perhaps it only seems that God never speaks to you—because you’re never quiet enough to listen to him!

Something is always going on in your mind—you’re thinking through the week’s schedule, scrolling through social media, or replaying a difficult conversation you had with your boss. So while God is trying to get through to you on the telephone of life, he’s getting a busy signal.

To hear from God, you’ve got to get quiet and reserve time alone with him.

The Bible says in Job 37:14, “Pause a moment, Job, and listen; consider the wonderful things God does” (GNT).

God wants to spend time with you. It’s like he’s saying, “Pause, be quiet, get alone, and learn solitude so I can talk with you.”

Is knowing God’s dream for your life worth giving him a day? Have you ever taken an entire day to do nothing but be alone with God?

Here’s what you can do on a day like that: Talk to God in prayer. Let God talk to you through the Bible. Relax. Think. Write down the thoughts he puts in your mind. Set some goals. Look through your schedule. Set your priorities. Spend the day asking, “God, where do you want me to go? What direction do you want my feet headed?”

Then make a habit of having a quiet time with God each day. I know you can’t spend all day every day in quiet and stillness with God, but you can set aside a short time each day. A daily quiet time looks a lot like what that entire day with God might look like, just shorter.

Remember: God speaks to people who take the time to listen—not just for a day but also on a regular basis.

Have you had a case of the spiritual wiggles? Set aside some time to be still and quiet with God. You might be surprised at how much he wants to say to you!

Talk It Over

Think about the “quiet times” you have with God. How much time do you spend being quiet and waiting for God to speak to you?

When have you heard God speaking to your heart? How did you get yourself still and quiet enough to hear from him?

What distractions do you need to eliminate today so that you can be still and quiet with God?

25/05/2021

People Pleasing Is Idolatry

By Rick Warren — 05/25/2021

“I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.”
Galatians 1:10 (NLT)

In life, you have to please only one person: your Creator. You only have to please the Lord, the one who made you and has a purpose for your life.

That simplifies life enormously!

Jesus said, “I don’t try to please myself, but I try to please the One who sent me” (John 5:30 NCV). He’s saying, in effect, “I’m living for an audience of one.”

Did you know that people pleasing is a form of idolatry? The first commandment in the Ten Commandments says, “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3 NIV).

Anything you put before God becomes a god. So a boat could be a god. A career could be a god. A girlfriend could be a god. Golf could be a god. Anything that becomes number one in your life that isn’t God becomes your god.

The second commandment is, “You must not make for yourself an idol” (Exodus 20:4 NLT). Anything that replaces God in your life is an idol. Success can be an idol. Money can be an idol. S*x can be an idol. A relationship can become an idol. If that relationship to your spouse, boss, or friend is more important than God, it’s an idol.

People pleasers allow other people’s opinions to take first place in their lives. Those opinions become a god because they matter more than God’s opinion. You don’t want to tell people you’re a Christian because they might think less of you. You don’t want them to know you go to church because they may not like you. At that point, you have another god in your life. You have made an idol of people pleasing.

Paul says in Galatians 1:10, “I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant” (NLT).

Almost everyone wants to be liked. It’s tempting to want to please other people. But don’t do it at the expense of pleasing God. As a servant of Christ, you have an audience of one. You need to only please God.

Talk It Over

When have you made people pleasing an idol in your life? What have the results been?

When have you lived just to please God? What have been the practical results in your life?

In what ways are you living to please people right now? How are you living to please God? What adjustments do you need to make to live only for an audience of one?

24/07/2020

What Is God Really Like?

By Rick Warren — July 24, 2020

“For the Lord is always good. He is always loving and kind, and his faithfulness goes on and on to each succeeding generation.” Psalm 100:5 (TLB)

If knowing who God is shapes the way we pray, then what is God really like?

Well, God has many characteristics. He is all-knowing (omniscient), he is all-powerful (omnipotent), and he can be everywhere at the same time (omnipresent). The Bible tells us God is holy, just, kind, loving, and faithful.

And God is good. In fact, trust in his goodness is the basis for all prayer. If God is not a good God, then why would we expect him to answer our prayers? Why would we be motivated to pray to him at all?

The only reason there’s any good in the world is because God is the Creator of the world, and he is a good God. His goodness is in the universe. You can’t spell “good” without “God.” If there’s no God, then there is no right and wrong or good and bad.

People often ask, “Why is there evil in the world?” It’s simple: God doesn’t force us to do good. Evil exists because God gave us a free choice and we choose not to do good a lot of the time. Evil is really easy to explain. The hard thing to explain is why there is is any good in the world. In a world of brutal competition and so-called tough luck, the only reason there is good is because God is a good God.

Because God is always good, we can know certain things about prayer. When you understand these things because you understand how good God really is, you’re going to enjoy prayer. It won’t be a duty anymore. It will be a delight!

Talk About It

Why is God’s goodness a key motivation to pray?

Is prayer a duty or a delight for you? Why?

How has God’s goodness affected the way you pray to him?

20/02/2020

Love Lets It Go

By Rick Warren — February 20, 2020

“Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others” (Colossians 3:13 NLT).

The longer you know someone, the easier it is to become critical. As time goes on, you’re more likely to become less gracious and to take others for granted.

Showing grace is an ongoing practice. It’s easy to show grace once. But over time, those little annoyances seem to add up, your patience starts to wane, and it’s easier to respond to hurt with hurt.

To experience a love that lasts, choose to be merciful. No relationship—marriage or otherwise—is going to last without forgiveness, acceptance, patience, and a lot of grace.

You get a hundred opportunities each day to extend grace to the people you love. I want to focus on two specific times when it may be a particular challenge, but you’ll need to do it anyway:

1. When their flaws and faults irritate you. The longer you love somebody, the more you know their flaws. You can choose to either be critical or gracious. You can be picky, or you can be kind. You can be a perfectionist, or you can show mercy. Proverbs 17:9 says, “Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends” (NLT).

2. When their words or actions hurt you. You can’t hold on to anger over a hurt. You can’t stockpile every hurt for ammunition. The Bible says in Colossians 3:13, “Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others” (NLT). You can choose to hold on to a hurt, or you can choose forgiveness. Only one option is healthy, and only one will give you freedom to move forward in love.

Showing grace goes against our nature to fight back, harbor a hurt, and have the last word. But we don’t have to rely on our own strength. Trust that as a follower of Jesus, you have the Holy Spirit working in you to help you choose the things God loves: mercy, compassion, and grace.

Talk About It

How have you seen forgiveness heal a relationship? Why is forgiveness so powerful?

Think of one of your closest relationships. How does the other person react when you nag? How does that person react when you are gracious about their flaws or quirks?

Is there a hurt you are holding on to? What is one thing you can do to choose forgiveness today?

12/02/2020

Love Looks, and Love Listens

By Rick Warren — February 12, 2020

“Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God” (Romans 15:7 NIV).

What God does for you, he wants you to do for other people.

God accepts you unconditionally. That doesn’t mean he approves of everything you do, but he accepts you, no matter what you’ve done. And God says he wants you to act similarly toward everybody in your life.

The highest form of love is focused attention. One of the ways you demonstrate acceptance to other people is to look at them and listen to them. When you look someone in the eye, you’re declaring that they matter to you.

Love looks, and love listens. When somebody comes in and drops something off at your desk, do you say anything to them? When somebody serves you something at a restaurant or a clerk helps you in a grocery store, do you look them in the eye and say, “Thank you”? It may seem like a small thing. But when you give someone your attention, even for just a moment, you are affirming their value as a person and showing that you accept them.

The Bible says in Romans 15:1, “We must bear the ‘burden’ of being considerate of the doubts and fears of others” (TLB).

Acceptance means you listen to others’ fears and doubts. We all have them! When people have doubts about God, you need to first listen and show that it doesn’t change your love or acceptance. Why? Because this is how God loves us. When we doubt, God’s love does not change. When we are fearful and unwilling to trust, God still accepts us. This is how he wants us to love people.

Loving like Jesus means you accept other people the way Jesus accepts you. And when his love flows through you, it’s possible for you to love others unconditionally.

Talk About It

Think about someone who easily irritates you or is hard to love. How does it change your attitude toward that person when you consider how much God loves you and that he has accepted you?

Why does making eye contact with someone make such a big difference in how that person feels?

What doubts do you still have about God? Do you believe that he accepts you even when you have doubts?

05/01/2020

God Doesn’t Force Us; He Gives Us a Choice

By By Rick Warren — January 5, 2020

“Today I am giving you a choice. You can choose life and success or death and disaster. I am commanding you to be loyal to the LORD, to live the way he has told you, and to obey his laws and teachings. You are about to cross the Jordan River and take the land that he is giving you. If you obey him, you will live and become successful and powerful” (Deuteronomy 30:15-16 CEV).

A lot of people have a big misunderstanding about God. They know God planned their existence and has a purpose for their lives. But they have the wrong idea that every detail of life is preplanned. They think they have no choice.

In fact, the Bible teaches the exact opposite. Yes, God has a plan and a purpose for your life, but it’s not automatic. You can miss it.

That’s because God won’t force you to enjoy the plan he has for you. He gives you the choice to accept or reject his salvation. He gives you the choice to obey or disobey his directions. He gives you the choice to follow or ignore the purpose for which you were created. Far too many people miss the purpose of their life because of their poor choices.

The Bible says repeatedly that God will not force you to do his will.

When Moses led the Jews out of Egypt and into the desert after 400 years of slavery, he told them about a land of milk and honey—a land of great, bountiful blessing—that God had promised them. It would be so different from their years of slavery.

But before they went into the Promised Land, God, through Moses, said to the people the same thing he says to you: “Today I am giving you a choice. You can choose life and success or death and disaster. I am commanding you to be loyal to the Lord, to live the way he has told you, and to obey his laws and teachings. You are about to cross the Jordan River and take the land that he is giving you. If you obey him, you will live and become successful and powerful” (Deuteronomy 30:15-16 CEV).

God was giving them a choice. God wanted his people to enjoy the bounty of the Promised Land. But he didn’t make them accept it. The choice was theirs.

This is a picture of salvation—of coming out of slavery to sin into freedom in Christ. In order to enjoy life in the Promised Land, the Israelites had to choose to obey God. You, too, have to choose whether you’ll accept God’s salvation and the good things he’s planned for you.

God could have made you a puppet, but he didn’t. He gives you the ability to choose. If you choose poorly, that choice is your greatest curse. If you choose wisely, it’s your greatest blessing. Today God gives you a choice between life—choosing salvation and his path—or death. Which path will you choose?

Talk About It

Have you been living life on autopilot, or are you choosing to follow God’s plan for you?

If you haven’t accepted God’s gift of salvation, what’s keeping you from making that choice?

How have you seen God’s good promises come true when you’ve chosen to follow his path?

20/12/2019

29/11/2019

Are You Ready to Break out of Your Rut?

By Rick Warren — November 29, 2019

“A woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years . . . When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, ‘If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.’ Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering” (Mark 5:25, 27-29 NIV).

The Bible tells a story in Mark 5 about a woman who had bled for 12 years. Her condition made her ceremonially unclean in Jewish culture, which meant she had no social life, no interaction with others. She had spent all her money trying to get well. Can you imagine how lonely and desperate she must have been?

One day she hears that Jesus Christ is coming to town. She says, “If I can just touch his robe, I’ll be healed.” So she takes the initiative and makes a daring act, pushing her way through the crowd to come up behind Jesus and touch the back of his robe. She is instantly healed!

Jesus recognizes the touch of faith. He asks, “Who touched me?” People are pressing all around Jesus in this crowd. The disciples are sometimes a bumbling group, so Peter asks him, “What do you mean, ‘Who touched me?’ Look—everybody’s around you and you say, ‘Who touched me?’”

But Jesus knows the difference. The woman comes to him in fear and trembling and says, “I did, Lord.” And he says, “Daughter, your faith has made you well.”

This woman, desperate in life and bold in faith, took the initiative. She broke the rules. She went beyond the boundaries. She decided she was ready to begin again and committed herself to action. She pressed ahead and got through the crowd, and because she took the initiative, her act of faith led to her healing.

Faith can lead to the same kind of miraculous outcome in your life. When you’re stuck in a rut, faith overcomes procrastination by helping you “get it in gear.” It gives you the power to take the initial step that will move you forward to where God wants you to be. No more being indecisive and waffling back and forth. No more sitting on the fence.

When you grow in faith, you’ll learn to take the initiative and discover more of your purpose in life.

Talk About It

Have you ever taken the initiative to grow in faith? What was the result?

How has procrastination kept you from moving forward in spiritual growth?

What’s a specific step you can take today to show initiative in your faith?

29/11/2019

Tell someone to tell someone.......

20/11/2019

How to Bear Fruit That Lasts

By Rick Warren — November 20, 2019

“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last” (John 15:16 NIV).

God’s mission is for everyone—including people like you and me.

We don’t have enough missionaries in the world to fulfill God’s mission by themselves.

Jesus said of us, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last” (John 15:16 NIV).

Fruit is a metaphor for a successful, productive life. Jesus wants us to bear fruit that will last.

Most of what we do won’t last. No one will remember most of what you did 10 years after you die. People won’t care what movies you saw, what books you read, or how you spent your summers.

But Jesus wants you to do something that will last. Only two things really last: truth and people.

Imagine this scene one day when you get to heaven: A person comes up to you and says, “I just want to thank you.”

And you say, “Thank me? I don’t even know you.”

“You’re right, you don’t know me. But you helped in a ministry. You helped in a project, a humanitarian effort through your church. You did something that caused me to get to know God. I’m in heaven because of you. I’m your forever friend.”

Nothing you do is more important than helping people determine the destiny of their lives because it’s fruit that will outlast your life.

William James is credited with saying, “The greatest use of your life is to invest it in that which outlasts it.”

When you invest your life in people, who are going to last for eternity, you’re bearing fruit that will last.

You might be a teacher. You might be an accountant. You might be a janitor.

But your greatest calling is to use the gifts God gave you to make sure more people will go to heaven.

Talk About It

What are some things people pursue in this life that won’t last even a few years after their death?

If you’re a follower of Jesus, what people played a part in your journey to God? Spend some time thanking God for those people.

Do you know if anyone will be in heaven because you shared Christ with them?