Left Out: The Benefits of Exclusion
Left Out: The Benefits of Exclusion

Being left out will always be a litmus test for pride. As soon as you realize you didn’t get the invite, you aren’t in the inner circle, or you are on the outside, one of two responses happen. The first is the most common: hurt, disappointment, and/or anger. Under those surface feelings are deep roots of entitlement (a.k.a. pride). A feeling that you deserve to be included or that you have merited inclusion. Or that you are owed the opportunity to be included, assuming that it's the fair thing to do. But our God isn't fair, mercifully so (read more about that here). We live under grace and that changes the game.

To boil it down, being included is about being honored. Like the kids picked first for the kickball team, being chosen for any group is position of honor. No one wants to be last on the team, or worst of all, not picked at all. We want the places of honor.

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Faith, Knowing the Word, Culture, Knowing God, CommunityKelly Needhamhonor, servant, Pride & Humility, Loneliness, Faith
Do You Despise Him?
Do You Despise Him?

In Genesis 25 we have a snapshot of the lives of Jacob and Esau, Isaac's twin sons. Esau, the elder, sells his birthright to Jacob at the cost of a bowl of soup and a piece of bread. The final assessment of the situation: Esau despised his birthright. So what does despise mean in this context? I used to assume the word was very emotive, in the same camp as disgust, hate, or loathe. But the Bible doesn't use it that way. Here there is no argument breaking out, no punches thrown, no harsh words. After Esau sells his birthright, he goes on his way. He doesn't seem to care either way about whether he has it or not. And that is the essence of this Biblical word, despise: to treat as insignificant, expendable, and of little value.

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Knowing the Word, Knowing GodKelly NeedhamDavid, Esau, Jacob, Jesus, Know the Word
What To Do With Self-Pity
What To Do With Self-Pity

Self-pity is simply the grief that I have nothing to brag about in myself. Ever have those days when you feel like a failure at everything? The closer I walk with God, the more my sin, my deep-rooted self-love, comes into high-definition focus. And honestly, I'd really love to be the most put together person in the room, the most spiritual, the most holy, the most fill-in-the-blank woman I know. Why? [Honest confession time] Because I love boasting in myself!

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Faith, Knowing the Word, Knowing GodKelly Needhamself-pity, Knowing God, Know the Word, Self-Esteem, Pride & Humility, Faith
The Forceful Compassion of God
The Forceful Compassion of God

God's compassion has often been forceful. At times, his force has been the confrontation of a friend, putting before my eyes the way my sin is harmful to those around me. His force has been the perfect storm of circumstances that upon first glance seem to prove that He hates me but soon reveal that He was delivering me from self-destruction. His force has been suffering, the stripping away of everything I trusted in, leaving me with Him alone. The compassion of God seizes me by the hand and drags me out of my sin when I hesitate to flee.

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Knowing the Word, Knowing GodKelly NeedhamSuffering, Knowing God, Compassion, Sin, Holiness
The Art of Noticing
The Art of Noticing

Continual worship of God is in the art of noticing. While laying on a picnic blanket with my daughters there are 2 things vying for my attention: the blue sky, littered with cotton candy clouds and laced by the silhouette of the tree we lay under or the latest stream of photos from my friends in instagram. One is a beauty that I have seen before. It's nothing new. The other boasts of pictures and comment conversations that are unknown to me. The new and undiscovered often presents the stronger pull in the moment. The fear of "missing out" seems to endanger my joy.

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Knowing GodKelly Needhamworship, Technology, Nature
An Exercise in Repentance
An Exercise in Repentance

Repentance is the act of agreeing with God about our sin, turning from it and rejoicing in what God has done for us in Jesus. Most of our repentance is reactive. We repent primarily for the sins that are staring us in the face or the ones that others point out. And honestly, even then, sometimes we delay dealing with our sin. But what if we weren’t just reactive in dealing with our sin, but proactive? This is a trait we see in many of the godly men and women of the Bible: Josiah (2 Chron. 34), Daniel (Dan 9), and David (Psalm 139:23-24) to name a few.

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Knowing GodKelly Needhambrokenness, repentance, Knowing God, Pride & Humility, Spiritual Discipline, Sin
A Jesus-Heart for Children, Part 3
A Jesus-Heart for Children, Part 3

I have often found that there are 2 specific topics that come up a lot as I meet with young wives and felt were worth tackling: birth control and child care.

These are sensitive topics for sure, controversial even, and there are many factors that play into every individual’s decision. But too often, these decisions are made from attitudes and motives that have been shaped by our culture, instead of the Word of God.

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Faith, Womandhood, Knowing the Word, Parenting, Home Life, CultureKelly Needhammotherhood, the Kingdom of God, Birth Control, Womanhood, Children