We live in a culture that tells us to “cancel” those we disagree with and hold angry grudges against those who wrong us. But holding grudges is bad for our health. As Rene Schlaepfer pointed out in Chasing David : A 2019 report in the Journal of Psychology and Aging found that holding grudges is dangerous to your health. Remaining in the state of anger is associated with chronic inflammation and other illnesses. The effects intensifies with age; in other words, the longer you hold a grudge, the sicker you get (page 113). What Jesus Said About Forgiveness Jesus talked
When things work out just perfectly, how do you view the circumstance? Is it coincidence? Fate? Destiny? I see it as evidence of God weaving everything together in His master plan. That’s what he did for David. Here was a guy coming up in the world. He’d defeated Goliath. He had a place in the king’s court, fortune, a wife, a trusted friend. He was respected. But then King Saul got worried about him. He decided David was a threat, and in an instant David lost it all: his position, prosperity, partner, peer, pride, and more. He ran for the
What inspires you to take action? When you’ve heard the story of David and Goliath countless times, it’s easy to overlook how David and the Israelites were feeling. Truth be told, I’d probably be an Israelite in that story. It’s hard to take a bold first step forward–especially when no one else has dared to take it. But David stepped forward. He faced Goliath and won. Did you see what happened next? I don’t think I’d ever stopped to notice before: “Then the men of Israel and Judah surged forward with a shout and pursued the Philistines to the entrance
When I’m afraid, I freeze. This isn’t just fear about my safety, either. I stand still and wait, unsure how to proceed, when I’m worried I might say or do the wrong thing, too. I think this is a fairly common response, which is reassuring–but not very helpful. In his book Chasing David , I really appreciated how Rene Schlaepfer used David’s response to Goliath as an example for how we should approach fear. As a bonus, it’s a related mnemonic device: FEAR . F: Find out the Facts In 1 Samuel 17 , David sees Goliath challenge the Israelites
How often do you feel like you don’t measure up? For me, it happens pretty regularly. I feel like I’m not a great mom when I snap at my kids. Or when my focus shifts from trying to keep up on the housework to something else, and I look around and feel surrounded by mess. Or when what I intended to say to my husband came out wrong and led to division rather than connection. And that doesn’t even get into what the world tells me about what sort of woman I should be. It’s so, so easy to get
As I shared in my previous post about David , my mom and I have been reading Chasing David by Rene Schlaepfer and seeing King David in a whole new light. I definitely recommend you give it a read! Here are a few things that stood out to my mom and me as we continued in Chapter 1. Family Dynamics When Samuel showed up in Bethlehem to anoint David, I’d always imagined he went straight to Jesse’s house and started looking at his sons that happened to be there. But if you actually read 1 Samuel 16:4-13 , the Bible
What comes to mind when you think of David from the Bible? Last year Rene Schlaepfer shared a series of sermons about David as part of Mount Hermon ’s “Camp in Box” (their way of providing camp during the pandemic). I found it fascinating! Rene did a wonderful job of showing David as a real, historical man rather than the simplified character that graces the pages of so many kids books. Now, a year later, my mom and I decided to read Rene’s book, Chasing David . I thought I’d share the new things I’m learning as we go through