God's timing is always perfect (cf. Is 30:18, Mt. 6:8).

Needing to recover from a recent erruption of verbal friendly-fire (Christians assaulting Christians), where I was greatly discouraged for sharing the Gospel with anyone the Lord leads me to (family, friends, neighbors, strangers, etc.), the Lord provided me with abundant comfort and strength through His Word, my darling husband, and my oldest son. And as if that weren't enough, my ever gracious Father also provided me more encouragement through soundly biblical and exhorting books*, sermons and articles. One of the articles (below) was shared today, at Ligonier Ministries.

During this recent verbal attack, it was intimated that I was an unloving person because I didn't always seek to first "love" people through acts of service before I "earned the right" to share the Gospel with them.

In our self-indulgent world, love has been desecrated and redefined to mean all that's warm and fuzzy, verses it's true definition, "God is love" (1 John 4:8). And if God is love, then love is holy, it is righteous, it is good (perfectly moral), and it is sacrificial—which is in complete opposition to the world's teaching that love always makes me or you feel good. Sadly, this worldly and defiled definition of love has been largely adopted and happily welcomed by many Christians. And why is this a problem? Firstly, because anyone who adopts the worldly definition of love, is blaspheming God's holy character and causing the unbelieving world to mock and malign God's Word. Secondly, it's a problem because it weakens our spiritual immune system, making us more susceptible to sin and less sensitive to the Holy Spirit's leading. And lastly, because it makes us unfaithful children of the Most High God, who prefer to rub shoulders with the world (making people feel good), rather than lovingly offend them with the life-giving power of the Gospel.

God is love and He said the best way to love Him and others well is to share the Gospel. After all, didn't our Father God say in John 3:16 that it was His love for the world that He sent His one and only Son to the earth to suffer and die for our sins? And look what our Lord repeats here in 1 John 4:8-10, "Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins."

"And I, when came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom...that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God."

-1 Corinthians 2:1; 5, ESV

During this recent discouraging and burdensome time with believers, most agreed that one of the best ways to share the Gospel (inoffensively) is to share our testimony. What? Unless our testimony includes the Gospel (which, actually, mine does...purposefully), then it's not the Gospel...it's our testimony...which, I'll say again, is not the Gospel. The Gospel is not about us. It's about Jesus.

Dr. R.C. Sproul, explains this biblically and succinctly.

"So they again called the man who was blind, and said to him, “Give God the glory! We know that this Man is a sinner.” He answered and said, “Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know. One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see” (John 9:24–25).

"This statement, 'Give God the glory!' seems positive until we read the remainder of the sentence, in which the Pharisees revealed that they had concluded that Jesus was a sinner and therefore could not have performed the miracle. They were saying that the man should give glory to God, not to Jesus. The man was straightforward with them, saying: 'I don’t know whether He’s a sinner. I don’t even know Him. All I know is this: once I was blind and now I see.'

"With these simple words, the man bore witness to Christ. He testified about the redemptive work of Christ. However, he did not preach the gospel. What am I getting at? In the evangelical Christian community, we sometimes employ language that is not always sound or biblical. You’ve heard the lingo. It goes something like this: 'I plan to become an evangelist so I can bear witness to Christ.' Or sometimes we say, 'I had a chance to witness the other day,' meaning, 'I shared the gospel with someone.' We tend to use the terms evangelism and witnessing interchangeably, but they are not synonymous. Any time I call attention to the person and work of Christ, I am bearing witness to Christ. But that is not the same thing as preaching the gospel.

"More than thirty years ago, I learned the evangelism technique taught by Evangelism Explosion, and I trained more than 250 people in that program and led them through evangelism efforts in Ohio. One of the finest aspects of that program is that everyone who goes through it must write out and memorize his or her testimony. Your testimony is your story of how you became a Christian. I think it’s very important that Christians are able to articulate to other people how and why they became believers. We all should have a prepared testimony, and we should be willing to share it at the drop of a hat.

"But we shouldn’t confuse our personal testimonies with the gospel. Sharing our personal testimonies is not evangelism. It’s merely pre-evangelism, sort of a warm-up for evangelism. Our testimonies may or may not be significant or meaningful to those with whom we are speaking. There are lots of folks who can relate to my story; they say, 'Yeah, I know what he’s talking about because I used to live like that too.' But not everyone can relate to my story. In any case, the gospel is not what happened to R.C. Sproul. God makes no promise that He will use my story as His power unto salvation. The gospel is not about me. The gospel is about Jesus. It is the proclamation of the person and work of Christ, and of how a person can appropriate the benefits of the work of Christ by faith alone.

"We see this from our passage in John’s Gospel. The healed man could say, 'I once was blind, but now I see,' and that was a wonderful testimony. But it was not the gospel. The man could not tell the Pharisees about Jesus’ saving work and about how they could be delivered from their sins by faith in Him. So we need to learn not only our testimonies but the concrete elements and content of the biblical gospel. Evangelism takes place when the evangel is proclaimed and announced to people—that is the gospel."

-Your Testimony Is Not the Gospel

Ligonier Ministries article by Dr. R.C. Sproul,

11/23/2015, excerpt from commentary on John

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is this: Repent of your sins and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ (Mk 1:14-15). We are all sinners who have broken and are incapable of keeping the commandments of a holy, righteous and just God. Therefore, our eternal crime has earned us eternal suffering—the wrath of God—Hell, where the worm doesn't die, the fire is never quenched and where the Lake of Fire eternally burns without consuming you so that you will suffer for all eternity. But God so loved the world that He sent His one and only Son into the world, not to condemn it because we are already condemned (John 3:16-18), but to suffer our punishment and die the excruciating death we deserve. Christ Jesus, who knew no sin, became sin for us so that all who repent and trust in His name, will be saved from the wrath of God and be granted everlasting life.

If you're a Christian, you've already "earned the right" to share the Gospel because Jesus Christ already gave you the authority/right to do so as a demonstration of your love and gratitude to Christ for your eternal salvation (Mt 28:18-20). Therefore, any Christian, who isn't prayerfully seeking opportunities to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ, no matter how nice or loving they or others think they are, according to God, the only person they're loving, is themselves.

Don't ever allow anyone, believer or unbeliever, deter you from faithfully sharing the Gospel with whomever the Lord leads you to share with.

"If you believe there's a Heaven and Hell and people could be going to Hell, or not getting eternal life or whatever, and you think 'Well, it's not worth telling them this because it would make it socially awkward' ...How much do you have to hate somebody to know that everlasting life is possible and not tell them that?" -Penn Jillette (Illusionist/Comedian, and self-professed atheist)

*The Crook in the Lot: The Sovereignty and Wisdom of God Displayed in the Afflictions of Men, by Thomas Boston (1676-1732)
The Practice of Piety, by Lewis Bayly (1575-1631)
Keeping the Heart: How to Maintain Your Love for God, by John Flavel (1627-1691)

"The purpose of a man's heart is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out. Many a man proclaims his own steadfast love, but a faithful man who can find?...The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it where he will. Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the heart. To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice." -Proverbs 20:5-6; 21:1-3, ESV

Too often when Christians talk about voting, we talk about having to vote for the lesser of two evils. This usually forces us to vote based on our fears (financial security, health, etc.) and affinities (worldly comforts), rather than simply and confidently voting our faith, in accordance with the Word and precepts of God.

Throughout biblical history, when God’s people have waned from wholeheartedly following His Word, He lifted up pagan leaders (e.g., Pharaoh of Joseph’s time, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, King Cyrus of Persia, etc.) to care for and discipline His wandering flock, so that they might turn back to Him and flee from all wickedness. Since January 20, 2009, we've had a type of King Nebuchadnezzar rule over our great country because too many of God's people have become comfortable and lazy; compromising with the ways of this world that satisfy our fleshly desires to be healthy, wealthy and safe. And just like the Israelites experienced, the saints of America foolishly trusted the feign promises of our current president, rather than trust the LORD God Almighty for what is best for us—whether in plenty or in want.

It would benefit all of us to commit Proverbs 30:8-9 to memory; and learn to pray it continuously.

"Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, 'Who is the LORD?' or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God."

-Proverbs 30:8-9, ESV

• Protect and provide God’s people with the freedom to worship the Almighty as He has commanded in every aspect of our lives;
• Uphold God’s commandments to honor the marriage union (which is essential because it's the earthly paradigm of Christ’s relationship with His Bride—the Church);
• Protect and defend the lives of those who cannot speak for themselves (unborn babies in their mother’s womb);

Prior to taking this quiz, I thought I most sided with Ben Carson, Mike Huckabee, Marco Rubio or Carly Fiorino who really seemed to know her stuff in the last debate (which after I doing some research, I found that much of her solutions were not feasible, numbers were inaccurate, and her tenure and accomplishments at HP weren't exactly what she purports). To my surprise, I most side with Senator Ted Cruz. After taking this quiz, I did some research on Ted Cruz, and found that yes, I indeed side with him on most issues. I'm grateful to the Lord for this resource, because my conscience is now clear in casting my vote for Senator Ted Cruz in the upcoming primaries and prayerfully, the presidential election on November 8, 2016.

There were some political issues I wasn't very familiar with, and therefore was delighted to find that iSideWith.com provides you with all the information you need to make a decision. There were of course, some issues, I was still undecided on, so I skipped those.

Part of my daily Bible Reading today was Proverbs 18. As I read this chapter, I stopped at verse two and began to earnestly pray for the Lord to keep me from being a fool in His sight. Whether I am a fool in the sight of people is of no grave consequence to me. Being a Christian doesn't mean I don't care what people think about me (who doesn't want to be liked?). It means I care more what Christ thinks about me (Gal 1:10).

Knowing the days are evil (Eph 5:16), I strive to live every day in view of That Day...when I will see Christ my Savior in His full glory. I long to hear Him say that I have done well in His sight and that my life was a beautiful offering (Mt 25:21, Mk 14:6). I pray this article is well pleasing to my Lord, and that He will use it as an instrument to sow peace and wisdom within the Body of Christ, while proclaiming the undefiled Gospel of Jesus Christ to the lost.

Like many of you, I've seen the video (below) of Dr. Robert Jeffress, Senior Pastor of First Baptist Dallas and Dr. David Jeremiah, Senior Pastor of Shadow Mountain Community Church join false teachers like Paula White, Kenneth Copeland, Jentezen Franklin, etc., in prayer for 2016 GOP presidential candidate, Donald Trump.

But before I share what I learned regarding Dr. Jeffress' participation in this meeting that took place in New York, at Trump Tower on Monday, September 28, 2015, I want to share these words from our Father God so that our hearts and minds are well-established on His precepts and not on our opinions or personal affinities.

"The wisdom of the prudent is to discern his way, but the folly of fools is deceiving...A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion."

-Proverbs 14:8; 18:2, ESV

"I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."

-Romans 12:1-2, ESV

"But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace."

-James 3:17-18, ESV

Now that our hearts and minds are firmly established in God's Word and His perfect precepts, let me share why I reached out to Dr. Robert Jeffress and not to Dr. David Jeremiah. Dr. Jeremiah has already proven to be an unorthodox and untrustworthy preacher/teacher of the Word of God by aligning himself with many false teachers including New-Age, Roman Catholic Roma Downey (with his participation in the making and promoting of A.D. The Bible Continues), and heretical Word of Faith preachers (pictured below). However, Dr. Jeffress hasn't been known to do the same, so I wanted to extend him grace (Matt 7:12) and provide him the opportunity to review and share his thoughts regarding his participation in last week's meeting with Donald Trump.




How did this prayer meeting come about? Who invited you?



I'm not exactly sure how/why I was included on the invitation list. I was with Mr. Trump several weeks earlier at his rally in Dallas because I was asked to pray at the event. As I said to The Christian Post, I am willing to pray for any presidential candidate who asks.

Does your participation in this two-hour meeting and prayer alongside well-known heretics like Paula White, Kenneth Copeland, etc., mean you're now in agreement with their false teachings and abominable practices?

No, it does not. I had no idea who was attending this meeting and my participation isn't an automatic approval of the theological viewpoint of every person in the room.


Are you concerned that your involvement with this group of false teachers might inadvertently mislead the flock you're called to shepherd at First Baptist Dallas to begin following/listening to these false teachers, if they don't already?

No, I'm not concerned at all. My congregation knows me and they know my commitment to biblical accuracy.


Can you say with a 100% assurance that your entire congregation has the spiritual discernment to know these are false teachers without you telling them, and in hindsight, if you could do this all over again, would you; or do you regret your involvement?


I think my congregation would know. I have no regrets about any aspect of my participation in the meeting last week with Mr. Trump.


I'm not wavering on my convictions that light should not partner with darkness (2 Cor 6:15). But that doesn't mean I'm going to drag Dr. Jeffress, who I believe to be a brother in Christ, through the hot coals of "Live out your Christian life, exactly the way I live mine...at the moment." None of us has perfect theology, therefore, none of our convictions are perfect and none can claim that at every point in our lives, that any of us, has worshiped Christ as we should. I don't want to judge my brother Dr. Jeffress based on what I would or wouldn't do (Pharisaical judgment), but I want to judge him based on God's perfect Word and precepts because that's the measure I want to be judged by.

And God's Word tells me to be gracious, patient and understanding. God says that His wisdom is first of all pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy, good fruits, and is impartial and sincere. That is what I'm working to demonstrate here.

I lovingly and unequivocally disagree with Dr. Jeffress that his participation in this meeting with false teachers was wise or that it would not endanger his flock. And therefore, I pray for, rather than rally against my brother, that God would move His heart to do what's most pleasing to Him, no matter how uncomfortable or humbling that experience may be. I also pray that all of us would deal with Dr. Jeffress in the loving and understanding way we would want to be dealt with if we were found to be in error (Prov 15:1, 21:1, 22:11).

Being a mom, and especially a Christian mom, is hard. It's what I call, hard heart-work. God builds a special bond between a mother and each of her children. There's something inexplicably wonderful about the life that proceeds from a mother's womb. Which is why abortion is such a horrible and wicked thing to encourage women to do—to strip herself of the beautiful life God graciously gave her in spite of what sins she may have committed, or what sins may have been committed against her. 

Every child is an unmerited gift from God.

Therefore, in view of God's mercy, we offer ourselves as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God, which is our spiritual worship. This command extends to motherhood also. Which means, rather than mothering our children in order to please and seek love for self, we care for our children in order to please and love God and our children sacrificially, and not just when it's easy, fun and dignified. It means we must love God and our children even when it's hard, painful and humiliating. And those three words often sum up the other side of motherhood that many of us neither want to think about or talk about. But we must.

Motherhood is a beautiful thing. It's filled with incalculable joys and fears from the moment you realize God has graced you with the ability to bring forth life.

I remember my first pregnancy; amazed that there was another human being inside of me; that God was secretly forming every part of him: visible (his body and personality) and invisible (his soul). My son was safely tucked in my womb, hidden from view and harm. And it was my job to keep it that way—to love and protect my child—to do him good and not harm all the days of his life—to train him in the love and discipline of the Lord (Eph 6:4). And it's still my job because a mother doesn't stop laboring for her children when she gives birth. A mother stops laboring for her children when either she or they, die their first death.

Sometimes a mother's labor results in great joy and sometimes it results in great pain. A mother has great joy when she gets to see the physical fruit of her labor—a living being from her womb; and when she gets to see the spiritual fruit of her labor—the life of her child secured in Christ. Along with these joys come the arduous, daily heart-work of keeping your child healthy, clean, fed, clothed, warm, safe and especially, Christ-honoring. A mother who fears the LORD, joyfully and willingly sacrifices her own comforts for her child's comforts. She would happily give up her food and go hungry, rather than see her child go hungry. She would cheerfully give up her sweater or coat and be cold, rather than see her child shiver. She would generously give up all her strength and be weak, rather than see her child hurting; and she would, without hesitation, joyfully give up her own life, rather than take the life of her child. A mother who fears the LORD, sacrifices everything, whether great or small, for her child's benefit, without consideration for her own. That's the way God made us. And that's what Jesus exampled for us when He disrobed Himself of His glory, left Heaven, and came to earth—to suffer, to die, and to rise from the grave, to grant eternal life, to all who repent and believe.

Being a mother isn't about fulfilling our already overweening egos. It's not about living our unfulfilled dreams and hopes through our children. It's not our second chance at life. It's our children's first chance to live the life God planned for them. Our children's lives are not about filling voids, trapping men, or something to be discarded because they're inconveniencing us somehow. Our children's lives are gifts from the Lord in spite of our sins, our frailties and ineptness; to properly love and care for another human being.

Being a mother who fears the Lord requires the willingness to suffer well and long for our children's best. It means being willing to tell your children hard truths about themselves, even if that means they won't like you...or even hate and totally reject you. It means daily feeding them the Gospel of Jesus Christ, reminding them that we're all sinners in desperate need of the one and only Savior. It means genuinely sharing your sins (age appropriate) so that they may learn and not fall into the same temptations. It means humbly asking them for forgiveness when you've sinned against them. It means living what you say you believe about Jesus; that He is sovereign, good, and perfect. Therefore, you're entire being, your thoughts, opinions, and conduct is based on what's found in the holy Word of God and not what's found in our defiled, self-absorbed world, or selves.

My hardest heart-work of being a mother has never been in the physical realm. It's always been the spiritual battles I've fought and continue to fight for and with my children, on my knees, and in my face-to-face conversations with them. I've always told my children that they can count on me to help them with anything...except sin. And I continue to remind them that I will stand against them, if necessary, with all the strength God provides, to give them what is good and not evil. It's extremely painful to watch my children sin (the same or differently than me), and this pain often causes me to want to crawl into a hole and just cry, but I don't...crawl into a hole. Rather, I follow my Savior and do what He did when He was here. I go to a lonely place (Lk 5:16) and I cry and talk to God Almighty (Ps 40:1-4, 16-17) instead of crying and talking to myself in the hole of self-pity.

I'd love to tell you that training up your children in the way of the Lord is easy and filled with stories of all the "great and amazing things God is doing" in their lives. I'd love to tell you that if you raise your children in the love and discipline of the Lord, they will love, honor and appreciate you. But I can't tell you any of these things because it's not true. Proverbs 22:6 is a precept for parents to obey, not a promise of absolute results.

We have two sons, 22 and 20. We raised them both in the love and discipline of the Lord Jesus Christ. We imperfectly lived out our faith before them; repenting to God and to our children whenever we sinned (which for me, was and still is, more often than I'd like). We always showed them how every rule for our family could be found in God's Word so that they would know that it is by the Lord's Word and standard, and not by our word and standard that our family is established and maintained.

With all our hearts, we loved and obeyed God's mandate to parents in Deuteronomy 6:5-9. Though I'm a night owl rather than a morning person, I willingly died to my natural inclinations, for how God created my children...to rise early (Php 2:3-4). During the first 18 years of my children's lives, I would wake up one and a half to two hours earlier than my children in order to have my personal praise and quiet time with the Lord, prepare a hot breakfast for our boys, and do our daily breakfast devotional. Between the ages of four and five, I taught them how to have their own praise and quiet time with the Lord; training them to wake up an hour before school so that they would have ample time for private and family worship.

When they were school-aged, we'd continue our talk about the Lord on the way to school, when I picked them up and as we did homework and played together. We'd pray and discuss the Lord at dinner, and during our "family time". When we took them to bed, we'd snuggle them (through age 13), prayed with them, then scratched their backs and massaged their heads as we sang any three songs they chose, to worship and praise our God together.

We literally have God's Word on our walls, on our furniture and everywhere you turn in our home. We purchased our children pocket Bibles so they would have God's Word with them wherever they go. I made them bookmarks with Scriptures to help them through trials and remind them of how to humbly receive praise. I made them lunch every day and included a simple note that reminded them of God's love, sovereignty and goodness in their lives. Since we felt led to public school our sons (I wouldn't recommend this to everyone, I recommend homeschooling), I practically lived at their schools, volunteering for everything I could: art assistant, music assistant, homeroom mom, office assistant, library assistant, chaperone, etc. I basically attended school with my children and walked or drove home with them when we were done. On the way home, I would ask them about how they witnessed God's goodness throughout their day.

Our sons were raised in sound doctrine and knowing how to interpret Scripture with Scripture rather than by their emotions or worldly philosophies. We purchased them reference Bibles by the time they both reached the third grade and taught them what the little numbers and letters next to verses and words meant and how to use the concordance in the back. We purchased a Holman Bible Atlas and taught them the timeline of events in the Bible as well as go over the maps so they could see the locations and distances of where people lived, how they traveled, and how far they traveled to obey God.

We purchased the Basic Training Course so that as a family, we might learn how to biblically and effectively share the true Gospel of God's grace rather than the prevalent, man-centered false gospel. We took the course together when our sons were 9 and 11, and we did all the activities together so that we might labor in the Lord's harvest field as a family. When they turned 12, we purchased Student Study Bibles (I recommend the ESV, it's excellent) so they could learn to study God's Word for themselves, with helpful resources and notes that were applicable for their life stage. There's much more that we did and still do with our oldest son who's still home with us, but I'll stop here because I think you get the point: my husband and I, with all our hearts, poured into our children, the love of God and the holy Word as best as we could.

I don't share any of this so you'll think highly of us. Rather, I share this with you to demonstrate that though you too may love and obey God's command in Deuteronomy 6:5-9, it's not to your glory if your children grow into Christ-honoring adults, nor your complete blame (if at all) if they grow into Christ-mocking adults. As I shared earlier, we have two sons, 22 and 20. Our youngest is our prodigal and left home at 19 to live his life as he pleased and not as God pleased. Our oldest is still with us while working to receive his graduate degree in Accounting. But that doesn't mean our oldest son is perfect and never brings us heartache like our youngest son does. It just means that though they were both raised in the love and discipline of our Lord, they walk divergent paths. We love them both dearly (for how can a mother lack compassion for a son from her womb?) and fervently pray for both of them to walk in a manner that's worthy of the Lord Jesus Christ (Col 1:9-12).

Though sometimes Christ-honoring parents are blessed to raise Christ-honoring children, some of us are blessed to continue our labor for our children's eternal souls until the day one of us dies. And sometimes those who aren't Christ-honoring parents, produce Christ-honoring children (e.g., Madalyn Murray O'Hair, the famous atheist, who's oldest son William "Bill" became a Christian because of God's sovereign choosing and the faithful labor of others). This is why we can't take credit or full blame for how our children choose to live. God is sovereign and all knowing and all wise. We are not.

While the rejection of our youngest son continues to pain us, the greatest heartache isn't that he isn't reconciled to us, but that he's not reconciled to God Almighty. My heart grieves every time either of our sons sin and succumbs to ways of the world (what's cool and popular) over the holy ways of God that are good and right. But their lives are not mine to hold, rather their lives are mine to entrust to the LORD who alone is faithful (2 Tim 2:13).

Whatever stage you're currently in with your mothering, please know, there's nothing wrong with desiring godly children whose lives are eternally secured in Christ. This is the most loving thing a mother can desire for her children. And we should certainly labor for that. But it's a sin to allow this good desire to be the hope and reason why you train them up in the love and discipline of the Lord—because it becomes an idol. The only reason why we should or shouldn't do anything, is for the pleasure, honor and glory of God. If your heart's sole purpose in training your children as God commands is because you love Him first and foremost, then your hard heart-work will not be in vain. You will not be prone to pride if your children walk with the Lord, nor will you be crushed if they don't. No matter the results, you will remain steadfast in hope, persevere in your labor for your children without bitterness, be patient in tribulation, fervent in prayer, bless them if they persecute you, rejoice with them in righteousness, and live peaceably with them as much as it is up to you (Rom 12:9-21).