GROWING RIGHT

I went to school to have a document signed by my HOD. What I didn't expect was to walk out of his office with something far more valuable than a signature. While we were discussing, he paused and said something that stayed with me long after I left: "In the next ten years of your life, a whole lot of things would change. Things will never be the same." Then he backed it up with his own life. In less than ten years, he had published ten academic books — a milestone most academics spend an entire career chasing.  He  said it matter-of-factly, not to boast, but to make a point. And that point is, time, when used with intention, does something extraordinary to a life. I walked out of his office and couldn't stop thinking about that very simple truth. However, I did what he did — looking back at my past 10 years. And  what I found quietly undid me. Ten years ago, I was a teenager who didn't even know Christ yet. My conversion came the year after...

Sincerely, I need you to pay attention to what I'm about to say  because I've been where you are, countless times. I know what it feels like to wake up and feel nothing. No fire. No drive. No reason to get out of the bed except that the bed isn't going to pay your bills or get the work done for you. You're not lazy. I need you to hear that before anything else. You're just tired. There's a difference, and most people never teach you the difference, so you grow up calling yourself lazy when really you're just a person whose well ran dry and nobody showed you how to dig deeper. This is not another conventional article that motivates you, only for it to wear out the second you're back to reality. What I'm going to give you here has roots that goes back thousands of years before  which have held up prophets, kings, and tired people just like you and me. I'm going to give you the WORD. Stay with me cause you might be blown away. First, let...

There's a phrase we've all heard and if we're being honest, we've all said it at least once. "Oh, they'll get a dose of their own medicine." Maybe it was your close friend who suddenly started giving you the cold shoulder for reasons you still can't fully explain. Or maybe it was a coworker who smiled to your face every morning went behind your back to take credit for a project you poured yourself into.  Perhaps  it was even closer to home. A family member, someone who was supposed to be in your corner chose to embarrass you publicly or betray you, and now every time you see their name on your phone screen, your heart tightens. And in that moment; that hot, very human moment, a plan starts forming in your heart.  "I'll just treat them the way they treat me. Let's see how they like it."  And It  may feel completely justified. You may feel right about it. Almost even noble like justice was about to be served, and you were th...

"Hey, I didn't know you're a church person." Those eight words.  You've  either heard them or lived  afraid of hearing them." Because you're either living in a way that your public life can't  really trace your christian faith or you don't want to be perceived as a church person. Maybe  it was a coworker who stumbled onto your Sunday morning Instagram or tiktok story — the video where your hands were raised and scripture caption underneath – while sitting right next to you at an unholy get-together the night before.  Maybe  it was a friend from your neighbourhood who randomly ran into your pastor and came back to you with that slow, knowing half-smile that told you they were connecting dots you'd hoped would never connect.  Or  maybe nobody has confronted you about their suspicion yet.  . But you know.  You  know exactly which parts of your life are not allowed to touch each other, and you spend more energy making s...

"Forget it! I can do anything at all for money". "Being nice and considerate will not put food on my table and take care of my needs". "You need to be wise (that is, to be crafty 😒) to make it in this life."  "Too much "holy holy" will keep you poor". Blah blah blah!  You see people with these mindset?.... They don't last. Let me first counter two dominant mindsets evident in the above statements. First, being nice is never all there is to a good character. Niceness is never enough to afford you a good reputation.  Secondly, reputation is an invisible currency whether you believe it or not. Stay with me... By obvious observation, this is a very impatient generation. The world is rapidly evolving and literally making life faster and easier for us.   There's fast food, fast shopping, fast delivery, even fast dopamine hits from social media. Advancement of technology has made everything easy from the comfort of our homes. Let'...