When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. —1 Corinthians 13:11

We expect children to behave in certain ways—to talk, think, and reason like children. We all recognize the sound of a child. For example, we don’t expect a teenager to talk and act like a small child. Similarly, we can listen to people who claim to have been Christians for years and yet talk like a baby Christian. Immature speech in people who have been Christians for many years is to their shame, and Paul is challenging the believers over this.

Childhood is marked by a particular way of talking and also a particular way of thinking: “I thought as a child,” said Paul. A child is the most selfish person that ever was. As far as he is concerned, the whole world revolves around him. He thinks only of himself and wants immediate gratification. He wants to be loved, but it never crosses his mind to be loving. And some of us, who have been Christians for quite some time, have never moved beyond just wanting to be loved, pampered, and encouraged. When will we take the responsibility and begin to grow up? If we are still waiting for others to show if they care about us, we need to start caring instead.

A third characteristic of children is shallowness. A child is easily influenced, is gullible, and has no discernment. This is why Paul says we should no longer be infants who are tossed about by every wind of doctrine.

So immaturity in Christians is just like the painless pursuit of childhood, characterized by baby talk, selfishness, and shallowness.

Rather, let us demonstrate the love of God through mature speech, selflessness, and discernment. As Christians, let us love one another and put away childish things.

Excerpted from Just Love (Christian Focus Publications Ltd., 1997).

Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. —John 17:25

Perception relates to our opinion and how we see things. Are you having a running argument with somebody at the moment? Arguing with your spouse? Having a problem at the office? You are just sticking to your guns on something and everybody but you can see that you are being ridiculous, but you say that you know that you are right. You are making the situation miserable by being a difficult person to work with. Is that possible?

Are you afraid to admit to the possibility that you could be wrong? Are you afraid of what might happen if you lost the argument? Do you worry about what other people would think about you if you gave in or someone just showed that you had gotten it wrong?

Now Jesus had a perception about Himself, that He was equal with God. But He did not think it necessary to hold on to that. In becoming like us He was not even omniscient. This may shock you, but He did not know everything. He admitted He did not know the day or the hour of His own coming. He had to learn.

In addition, Jesus was right. His opinion was infallibly right, but He even let that go. You say, “Well, I know I’ve got it right. I can’t let it go.” Jesus did. The amazing thing is that God Almighty did not even take Himself seriously, in this sense. That is your example, and yet you cherish your opinion. Why do you not just be like Jesus? He was right, and He let it go. You could be wrong, and if you are wrong, how much better that you let it go. By the way, if you are right, the truth will come out. It will win in the end. You do not have to do a thing about it. Let Jesus be your example.

Excerpted from Meekness and Majesty (Christian Focus Publications Ltd., 1992, 2000).

Then I said, “Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—I have come to do your will, O God.” —Hebrews 10:7

What do you suppose motivated Jesus? First of all, it was reverence. It was reverence for His Father. If you want to know something about the mind of Christ, I challenge you just to make a study of the Gospel of John and look at the relationship Jesus had with His Father. He put it like this, for example, in John 5:30:

By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.

And then later in that chapter He said this, a verse that many years ago gripped me and I hope will grip you:

How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God? —John 5:44

If that kind of thinking will grip you, then you are a candidate to think about the mind of Christ.

All this will only make sense once there is embedded in you a true fear of God. All that a preacher or writer may say or expound will only become relevant if this is so. And that has to happen between you and God. As long as you are looking at someone else and hoping that you will be noticed by this person and are thereby getting your motivation, then your motivation is phony and will not last. Perhaps you want your church leaders to notice your endeavors, and this drives you to carry on. But this cannot work. Something, sooner or later, has to happen so that your honor comes from God. That is all that matters. Then you are not looking to see who else notices you: you are consumed with the passion of wanting God to notice you, taking your orders from above.

Excerpted from Meekness and Majesty (Christian Focus Publications Ltd., 1992, 2000).

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus. —Philippians 2:5

To take on the mind of Christ is to adapt an attitude of expendability. By attitude I mean perspective. Paul said he took upon himself “the very nature of a servant.” Jesus saw Himself as a servant the whole time He lived. In a word: meekness. Quiet obedience, making no protest. It was a lifestyle. It was His pursuit. This brings us to a question: Do we want the mind of Christ to be in us? How much do we want it? For Jesus it was a perspective, a passion, a pursuit. He lived this way.

Now, some may say, “Well, I did that once; I know what that is.” But with Jesus it was an ongoing lifestyle, and we too are called to this lifestyle from now on. It is one thing to have a week of living like this; it’s another to make it a lifestyle. Some may say, “I don’t have to live this way now; I have paid my dues.” We will never have the mind of Christ in us until this becomes a perspective that is a lifestyle with which we are going to live twenty-four hours a day, every day of our lives. No change!

To get a little closer to the meaning, we must look at what this attitude involves. Essentially, it is a self-emptying attitude. Jesus relinquished what rightfully belonged to Him. Are we like that? Are we always so concerned about our reputation that what people think of us is so important? Yet there is one who made Himself of no reputation.

We think ourselves so important—”Well, I’ve got to be there,” “I’m needed,” “What will happen if I’m not there?”—and we become sensitive and easily offended. We wear our egos—and our feelings—on our sleeves. Anything can upset us. This is because we do not think of ourselves as being expendable. But Jesus, who was the greatest gift there ever was to the human race, made no such claims. He humbled Himself even to death on a cross. Greatness is having this conviction of self-expendability.

Excerpted from Meekness and Majesty (Christian Focus Publications Ltd., 1992, 2000).

… and pray for those who persecute you … —Matthew 5:44

Praying for the one who has hurt you or let you down is the greatest challenge of all, for three reasons:

1. You take a route utterly against the flesh.

2. Nobody will ever know you are doing it.

3. Your heart could break when God answers that prayer and truly blesses them as if they’d never sinned.

And yet Jesus’ word to pray for such people is not just a polite suggestion. It is a command—one that may seem so outrageous that you want to dismiss it out of hand. Some see it as a lofty but unrealistic goal.

But this is not what Jesus means. He is commanding you to pray that your enemy will be blessed. If, however, you should pray that he or she will be cursed or punished instead of being blessed, just remember that is how your enemy possibly feels about you. After all, have you ever been someone’s enemy? Have you ever done something that brought a fellow Christian to tears and brokenness? If so, how would you like that person to pray for you? That God will deal with you? That God will cause you to have an accident? Yet how would it make you feel if they prayed that you would be blessed and let off the hook? That you would prosper as if you’d never sinned? Would you not like that? “Do to others as you would have them do to you” (Luke 6:31).

Jesus wants a sincere prayer from you. It is like signing your name to a document, having it witnessed, and never looking back. You are not allowed to tell the world, “Guess what I did? I have actually prayed for my unfaithful spouse to be blessed.” No. It is quiet. Only the angels witness it, but it makes God very happy.

Excerpted from Total Forgiveness (Charisma House, 2002).

For some Christians Facebook may seem like a mindless waste of time that only distracts one from living a Christ-centered life. But the social networking site has also helped millions grow closer to Christ through daily interaction with God’s Word—and now there’s proof.

According to the Unofficial Resource for Facebook website, the Facebook pages Jesus Daily and The Bible have more interactions among their fans than any other Facebook page, including the NBA page and MTV Roadies combined.

Jesus Daily helps Facebook users find ways throughout the day to respond just as Jesus did, and The Bible fan page posts Scriptures for people to meditate on.

The Bible’s Facebook page founder says the social media tool should be exploited for the benefit of seeing lives transformed.

“I wanted to encourage people into a deeper relationship with God—to go deeper into God’s presence—and I know one clear way to do that is by immersing yourself in the Word of God,” Mark Brown says in a video explaining why he started the Bible’s Facebook page. “In those pages you don’t encounter just ink and words. You encounter the Holy Spirit as God works through those words with the power of the Holy Spirit transforming us.

“The Bible isn’t about information, it’s about transformation—us becoming what God wants us to be.”

As South Sudan secedes from the Muslim-dominated north and officially becomes a nation on July 9, Aid Sudan says there is no better time than now to minister the gospel and meet the physical needs of those living in this poverty-stricken area. 

The nonprofit organization hopes to help build a strong spiritual foundation in South Sudan as the infant country builds its identity after years of civil war. 

“We just see it as such a crucial time for the body of Christ to invest, to help spread God’s word to help this new nation as it gets on its feet,” says Sarah Thompson, Aid Sudan’s director of administration.

Through the ministry’s Village-to-Village project, Aid Sudan has gone into communities and built schools where children were using dirt and sticks as chalkboards and chalk. The ministry also built water wells where kids used their sleeves as filtration devices to clean the polluted water. 

Aid Sudan also operates a radio station that broadcasts to South Sudan in tribal languages. The station and its affiliates deliver the Word of God in story form in addition to news, community training and lessons on health and hygiene.

“It’s unbelievable how we see God moving,” Thompson says of the nation’s transition. “Our main desire is to be faithful. We see this as a crucial time for the body of Christ to help spread God’s Word and to help invest, and we’re blown away by what’s He’s already done. 

“It’s just kind of ripe for the spread of the gospel,” Thompson says.

Better Than the Rapture

I agreed 100 percent with the article “Don’t Freak Out” (J. Lee Grady, May) about the rapture prediction. I heard Harold Camping over my shortwave radio … over a year ago. Grady said it well, “I don’t need to know what day Jesus is coming back—my prayer is that I can take as many people as possible to heaven with me when He splits the sky!” Amen! God bless you for telling it how it really is.

Mary A. Morrow, Mineola, Texas

Covered in Prayer

I love the cover and the story of your May prayer issue. I have been a part of three churches that exploded by simply dedicating time for the entire congregation to meet regularly in prayer.

Brian Boisselle, Via Facebook

Charisma ‘Saved My Life’

Many years ago I went through a personal tragedy that cost me tremendously. One day I picked up Charisma. Its lead article, “Why Do Christians Shoot Their Own Wounded?” (by David Kyle Foster, March 1998), saved my life. It brought a fresh perspective on many things, which eventually paved the way to my healing. I want to thank you for your ministry and all that you do to bless the body of Christ. People whom you never thought you would reach have been reached because your ministry brought me healing. Because I know what it’s like to be lost and broken, I can now reach out to others with a better understanding than ever before and be more effective in my ministry to them. Thank you. 

Daniel Rodriguez, El Paso, Texas

Marvin Sapp Sets an Example

As a long-time reader of Charisma, I was so moved by the “Praise Through The Pain” article (DeWayne Hamby, April) that carried us through pastor Marvin Sapp’s grief journey. His willingness to be transparent and openly share his tears will serve as a positive role model for healthy bereavement. Thank you for sharing this powerful story!

Ellen M. Walston, Greenville, N.C.

Binding … and Loosing

I love your magazine. It seems, however, that it falls apart easily at the middle. I like to save and preserve my copies. I hope you get better binding in the future. 

Teresa Omlor, Elizabethtown, Ky.

You’re Already in the Debate, Why Not Learn the Argument?

As homosexuality has become more accepted in society, many believers have been forced to defend the biblical view of homosexuality. But do you know exactly what Scripture has to say about this hot-button issue? Visit  to find out what  you need to know in the debate. 

Set Free From Homosexuality

We often hear people say that they’re “born gay.” At .com watch a video from a woman who not only left the gay lifestyle, but also says gays and lesbians don’t have to remain that way. 

When Your Child Says She’s Gay

What do you do if your child comes home one day and announces he or she is gay? This act of self-disclosure presents an incredible challenge for Christian parents, especially in light of the deep chasm between secular thought on homosexuality and the biblical approach. Visit  to learn how to wade through these murky waters.

help Male Prostitutes find a way out

According to John Green, founder of Emmaus Ministries, 75 percent of male prostitutes claim to be heterosexual yet have mostly male clientele. Many of these men use drugs and alcohol to numb the pain of their situation—which often results in a viscious cycle of addiction fed by more prostitution. Visit  to discover how Green and other ministers help these sexually broken men break free.

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With the Charisma Mobile app, news, reviews, commentary and more will be sent to your Android, iPhone, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Palm webOS or Nokia phone. Download the free app by texting “Charisma” to 46275 or by going to .

But I tell you: Love your enemies. … If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? —Matthew 5:44, 46

Jesus instructs us to overcome our enemies, not by showing everybody how wrong they were, nor by matching their hatred with ours, but by loving them.

This brings us back to the matter of choice. Love is not what you feel. Forgiving is not doing what comes naturally. It is often said, “You can’t help what you feel.” We therefore ask, does the choice to love involve repressing or denying our feelings? No. Repression is almost never a good thing to do. But love is a conscious choice to forgive—even if you don’t feel like it! If you wait until you feel it, you probably never will forgive. You must do it because it is right, because of a choice you have made that is not based on your feelings.

The paradox in total forgiveness is that it simultaneously involves selfishness and unselfishness. It is selfish—in that you do not want to hurt yourself by holding on to bitterness. And it is unselfish in that you commit yourself to the well-being of your enemy! You could almost say that total forgiveness is both extreme selfishness and extreme unselfishness. You are looking out for your own interests when you totally forgive, but you are totally setting your offender free.

Even the non-Christian understands the benefits of forgiveness in a physical and emotional sense. This surely leaves all of us without excuse. If a non-Christian is able to forgive others, how much more should the Christian follow a lifestyle of forgiveness?

As Christians we have no choice. We forfeit our fellowship with God and blessings here below when we don’t forgive. If we have been forgiven of all our sins—and this includes even the sins we have forgotten about—how dare we withhold this from others?

Excerpted from Total Forgiveness (Charisma House, 2002).