What’s something that makes you uncomfortable? Maybe fingernails on a chalkboard? Or the sound of a fork scratching on a plate? As children of God, we are called to “speak the truth in love,” something that is often very uncomfortable for all parties involved. But like taking a distasteful but life-giving medicine, the truth is vital for health.

He was without recognition or honor. Or money. He painted more than 1,500 works of art in his lifetime. He sold one.

“One must go on working silently,” said the artist, “trusting the result to the future.”

During the journeys described in Acts 17-20, Paul went from city to city and experienced rejection, abuse, false accusations, and threats of violence from those around him, because he consistently and faithfully presented the Gospel message.

Over this series of articles we will dig deeply into Scripture to learn what wisdom, love, and godly conduct look like. We’ll look at character, virtue, manners, and issues like Cancel Culture and Political Correctness.

He was sitting alone on a cot. The room was dark and damp. What light there was helped little against his failing eyesight. Short of stature, he was balding, but lean and sinewy. He squinted at the parchment. Oblivious to his sparse, inhospitable surroundings, he focused with a single-minded intensity on his writing.