Join the quest and Accept The Love Challenge!
To Correct or Not to Correct? Have you ever made a snap judgement about someone or something? Sadly, I often make snap judgements. But recently, I found myself the recipient of someone else’s snap judgement. And it took all the Jesus-lovin’ strength I could muster, friends, not to email this person and set them straight….
![How to Love The Unlovable… [in the wake of another tragedy]](https://rachelwrains.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/9916C315-6131-4A51-90E8-E3AA83992B54.png)
Every time I hear of another school shooting, I always return to the same, recurring thought. “Woe is the suffering/misery this person surely endured to have committed such an unfathomable act of horror.” Often you’ll read the words, “I hope the killer rots in hell.” But clearly they’ve already experienced hell. Hell on this earth….
![Random Acts of Kindness… [today and everyday]](https://rachelwrains.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/4FBFC7F5-6C8E-4717-9740-C9513401BBFF.png)
The most random acts of kindness we can commit is to answer unkind words and deeds with extraordinary grace. True kindness is Spirit-produced and matters most when it is the least expected [or warranted]. The key to Spirit-filled kindness begins with the idea all of us are undeserving in light of the cross. Jesus didn’t…
![Letting Go… [and Choosing Forgiveness]](https://rachelwrains.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/4D3767FE-F460-4E0E-9863-4C9FCE66CEEF.jpeg)
Fall is a season for letting go… Although it doesn’t feel very Fall-ish here in Hometown, OK with temps hovering around the nineties—I’m desperately searching for autumn-ness. Maybe it’s because the temperatures refuse to succumb. Or maybe it’s because we’re sliding into my mama’s favorite season and birthday month. But a heaviness hangs in the…
![How to Walk in LOVE in Hurt or Trauma… [learning to love those who’ve hurt us.]](https://rachelwrains.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/762FCE60-F649-4CCA-938D-0B959142E838-1021x1024-1.jpeg)
Acknowledge the Reality of Hurt. The reality is we live in a fallen, imperfect world full of messy, broken people and it’s only a matter of time before we are hurt by someone or we inflict pain on another. We are even told in God’s Word that we are to expect trouble in this world….
![How to LOVE others… [a #TLCjourney]](https://rachelwrains.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/92966B60-6ED6-4E8B-A776-D439BDC53C5F-edited-scaled-1.jpeg)
The Love Challenge is a strategy for tackling the greatest challenge ever set before us—loving one another! If the world is our mission field as Christ followers, then the Love Challenge is our field guide; prompting us to be ‘so full’ of God’s love. But the world isn’t only a mission field, it is a…
![LOVE Your Enemies… [A How-To].](https://rachelwrains.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/73A57C53-2BCF-45C4-9327-04470757A42E.jpeg)
Let your enemies bring out the BEST in you… not the worst. “To you who are ready for the truth, I say this: LOVE your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer for that person. If someone slaps…
![How to Love Your [Political] Enemies](https://rachelwrains.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/9DC64A5C-F856-4365-890F-9266BC30F818-scaled-e1603157283813.jpeg)
“In the end, we LOVE people into belief. We do not argue them into belief.” – Tim Keller The political season seems to bring out the worst in all of us and on both sides of the proverbial fence. No one ever wins or changes another’s mind when spewing hate online. Hate does not overcome…
Much has been said in recent weeks about the importance of kindness, gentleness, and humility. Often, in our society, these attributes are sorely overlooked and characteristics such as personality, charisma, and eloquence are elevated. I love the way James Baker phrased it when referring to his good friend, Pres. H.W. Bush. He said “He was…