A Look at Dignity, Equality, and Redemption in a Roman World Built on Power This is Part 2 of a three-part series on the Sexual Revolution. For the first article, please see The Sexual Revolution Lies to Women. The 1960s promised a sexual revolution. And it delivered, just not the kind most people expected. The fallout is now impossible to ignore: rising loneliness, regret, anxiety, and abuse, especially for women. Even secular voices like Louise Perry are sounding the alarm, wondering aloud if we’ve dismantled something vital in our pursuit of freedom. But what if the sexual revolution we actually need… already happened? Not in the 20th century. Not in a courtroom or a university. But in dusty towns under Roman rule, led by a carpenter’s son who never married and spoke to women like no man ever had. Rome Was a Sexual Free-for-All: But Only for the Powerful To understand how revolutionary Jesus really was, we need to look at what he was confronting. The Greco-Roman world was permissive, but only for those at the top. In Rome, consent wasn’t the rule, power was. Men could sleep with their wives, mistresses, slaves, prostitutes, and even adolescent boys. So long as they didn’t violate another man’s wife or take a “passive” role, it was socially acceptable. This wasn’t fringe behavior, it was expected. Slaves had no sexual rights. Prostitution was institutionalized, and infanticide (especially of baby girls) was routine. Women’s worth? Conditional. A Roman woman’s job was to marry, bear sons, and stay silent. If she were raped, she could be punished. If she were unfaithful, she could be killed. Meanwhile, her husband could keep concubines without scandal. In this world, sex was power, and those with none paid the price. Jesus Didn’t Just Restrain Desire — He Rewired It Into this world stepped Jesus of Nazareth. He didn’t start a riot. He didn’t run for office. But the culture-shock he introduced was seismic. He taught that lust in the heart was on par with adultery in action. He said divorce was a moral failure, not a loophole. He taught that sex belonged within lifelong fidelity between one man and one woman — period. Even more radical? These rules applied to everyone. No exceptions for power. No special treatment for men. He held the rich and religious to the same standards as prostitutes and peasants. In short, Jesus didn’t shame desire, He redefined it. And He did it not to control people, but to honor them. Jesus & Women: Dignity in a World of Disposability Jesus not only taught a new sexual ethic, He lived it. In John 8, He defended a woman caught in adultery from public execution. Not by denying her sin, but by exposing her accusers’ hypocrisy. “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.” They all walked away. Jesus said, “Go and sin no more.” It was grace without moral compromise — utterly unlike the cruelty of Rome. In John 4, he spoke to a Samaritan woman at a well, a woman with five past husbands and a live-in lover. He didn’t shame her. He offered her “living water.” And she became the first evangelist in her town. Time after time, Jesus treated “unworthy” women as worthy of conversation, conviction, and calling. It was revolutionary. Everyone Was Accountable. Everyone Was Honored. The most disruptive part of Jesus’s teaching wasn’t how hard it was. It was how fair it was. In a society where men got a pass, Jesus gave them a calling. He didn’t just tell women to be pure. He told men to stop objectifying them. His earliest followers carried this forward. Paul wrote that the body “is not your own” but “a temple of the Holy Spirit.” And in Corinth, a city full of brothels, He told Christian men not to unite Christ’s body with a prostitute. This wasn’t prudishness. It was purpose. It was protection. Jesus’s ethic wasn’t about repressing sexuality. It was about redeeming it. A Revolution That Starts in the Heart Jesus never stormed Rome. But his sexual ethic dismantled it from the inside out. It challenged the powerful. It protected the vulnerable. It required everyone (slave or senator) to treat sex not as conquest, but covenant. This was the true beginning of the first sexual revolution. But it didn’t stop with Him. The early church took Jesus’s vision and turned it into a community. That’s where we’ll go next. What do you think? Was Jesus a moral conservative, or a cultural revolutionary? If His ethics lifted the lowly and challenged the powerful, what would it do in today’s world? © 2025 Nathan Cole

“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” Eph 4:29 I refer to those outside of my faith as non-believers or unbelievers, because those terms reflect where they stand in relation to my own religious beliefs. Those two words are respectful and self-explanatory. I’m very intentional about avoiding derogatory or mocking language about anyone or any group; there simply is never any need for that. As Christians, we’re called to be Christ-like, not to resort to name-calling, mocking, or belittling others. So, before speaking about those who believe differently, I encourage you to consider whether your words reflect Christ’s heart. If you use the word “Christian” anywhere in conjunction with your name or introduction to another person. You are voluntarily signing up for higher expectations, whether you like it or not. Online and in my personal life, I hear all sorts of comments, snide remarks, and terminology that are fully meant to be insulting, both in tone and meaning. From Christians, no less. Honest Reflection Time Did that make you feel better? Did you feel a little bit more holier saying that derogatory word? Feel like you're doing God’s work, digging in those insults? Think I’m going to end there, because ya know what I’m getting at. You don’t have to condone the sin, but watch your words, because your sins are no better than anyone else's. Be the better person you are called to be. Be Christ-like. © 2026 Jane Isley

“Don’t follow me… follow Jesus.” If you’re anything like me, you may have read that and immediately thought: “Don’t tell me what to do.” Whether that sounds like “I’m going to follow you BECAUSE you told me not to” (power of reverse psychology) OR it manifests more like “I won’t follow Jesus because religion is not for me” (or something along similar lines); rebels like myself don’t follow blindly just because someone (even super charismatic influencers) suggested it. We need proof, just like “doubting Thomas.” Show me your scars Jesus, and I’ll show you mine. Miraculously, when we authentically call upon the name of Jesus (not for the purposes of a dramatic Easter *performance set to emotional music with flashing lights up on a mega church stage) from our true heart, He opens the door just as it reads in the following scriptures: Ask, Seek, Knock “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 7:7–12) Are you truly seeking God? Or are you simply looking for the all the inherent flaws associated with organized religion? Personally, I’m trying not to judge the *performance aspect of big production churches (including my own) because I do believe the overall intention is good. At our church this past Easter weekend, our lead Pastor asked each one of us to sincerely consider this question from God: “Do you love Me?” He poignantly followed it up with “Do you love me, not for what I can give you or do for you but for ME, regardless of circumstances? If you had been there to hear the raw emotion in our pastor’s voice when he posed this question, you would most likely believe that his own answer to God’s question is that he truly loves God with all his heart, mind, and soul, simply for who God is — for His pure goodness no matter the tests, pain, or trials this life inevitably presents along the way. By the way, our church did an AMAZING job with the choir performances and other professional quality entertainment. So when I say that I am trying not to judge it has absolutely nothing to do with the quality of the productions. It has everything to do with the no-nonsense, scholarly Bible Study tiny one-hundred-percent unpaid volunteer-run ecclesia I grew up in compared to this multi-million dollar annual budget enterprise where masses flock to be entertained twice a year (Christmas and Easter), rather than seeking and studying God’s Word to know Him better and love Him more all year long. There are pros and cons with both kinds of churches. I learned a ton from my childhood church where EVERYONE knew everyone else and people definitely noticed whenever you missed an event. I fell in love with the contemporary worship music and passionate preaching at the church I’ve been attending for the past 31 years. It wasn’t until recent years that I actually started genuinely connecting with people in smaller group settings at this HUGE church and it has been life-changing in all the best possible ways. Atheists and agnostics claim they can’t see God, therefore God does not or may not exist. I would argue that WE are the hands and feet of God as members of the body of Christ and therefore GOD can and will be seen and experienced via relationships in real time in real life! I know, WILD, right? And believe me, I have shared some of the same hard questions with several of you such as “Why would God create this world knowing it would quickly become a sinful, broken “fallen world” in need of a savior?” Two answers immediately come to mind for this one. The first one is “There is a GOD and I am not Him…” (merely a member of His family). The second response is “By design, God intentionally created children with the gift of FREE WILL, because He didn’t want AI robots who give all the correct answers desired by the user.” I pray that this perspective helps those who struggle with these challenging questions and more. I invite your respectful comments and additional questions to be addressed in future stories. If you are part of the older crowd including these generations, Silent Generation (1928–1945), Baby Boomers (1946–1964), Generation X (1965–1980), you may remember classic advice columns in the black & white printed old-school newspapers like Ann Landers and “Dear Abby” Ann Landers (Esther “Eppie” Lederer) and Dear Abby (Pauline “Popo” Phillips) were influential, competing advice columnists born as identical twins on July 4, 1918. Starting in the 1950s, they revolutionized advice columns with direct, modern, and witty responses, reaching over 100 million combined readers. (AI overview) I just had the most delightful thought! Perhaps I could microcosmically represent a similar advice-giving column related to your biblical questions here at Medium ;) That could be fun! I will add the disclaimer right now that I will not have all of the answers to all of the questions. Anyone who claims they do have all of the answers, aside from God, is clearly lacking wisdom (also known as a “fool” in Proverbs.) Should we go with “Dear Nora” or “Dear Grateful Gwen”? What do you think? P.S. Also, don’t follow me because in this miraculous moment I have [John] 316 followers, so that’s pretty awesome! But do follow Jesus and exercise your FREE WILL to follow or unfollow whomever you choose (including me) ;) © 2026 Nora Gwen. Press Ctrl + P (Windows) or Cmd + P (Mac) to print this article or save it as a PDF.

You sit down at the end of the day, finally ready to relax. Netflix is open. There are more shows than you could watch in a lifetime: crime dramas, documentaries, Korean thrillers, slow thoughtful indies that make you feel cultured, familiar sitcoms that ask nothing of you, prestigious series everyone says you must watch. Ten minutes later, you are still scrolling. Twenty minutes later, you feel strangely tired. You had options. Abundance, even. Yet what was meant to feel like freedom somehow became one more small, draining task. It is a familiar modern experience. We have more choices than any generation before us, and yet many of us do not feel more at peace. We feel more anxious, more fragmented, more hesitant, more aware of all the lives we are not living. And this is not just about entertainment. It is about careers, relationships, cities, church communities, habits, platforms, lifestyles, the way we present ourselves online, even the way we think about identity itself. We were promised that more choice would make us freer. But for many people, it has made life feel heavier. The paradox of choice Modern Western culture tends to define freedom in a very particular way: freedom is having as few limits as possible. The freer person is the person with the most options, the fewest constraints, and the widest range of possible futures. There is some truth in that. Some limits are genuinely oppressive, and some choices really do matter. It is better, not worse, to have certain doors open that were once closed. But somewhere along the way, choice stopped being just one part of freedom and became almost the whole thing. We began to assume that if some choice is good, then more choice must be better. More options. More flexibility. More reinvention. More room to keep our lives open-ended. At first, that sounds liberating. Why would anyone want fewer possibilities? Because human beings do not simply need possibility. We also need peace. We need direction. We need some way of knowing that our lives will not collapse if we choose imperfectly. Yet modern life often trains us in the opposite direction. Every decision feels loaded. Every choice seems to close off other, possibly better lives. Every commitment begins to feel costly, not because commitment is bad, but because we have learned to think of closed doors as a threat to freedom. When every door is open, walking through one can start to feel less like liberation and more like loss. That is the paradox. The multiplication of options does not always produce joy. Sometimes it produces paralysis. Sometimes it produces regret. Sometimes it simply makes us tired. And increasingly, the choices in front of us do not feel like neutral decisions. They feel personal. They feel like statements, not just What do I want to do? but What kind of person am I? Choice used to be about what we did. Increasingly, it is about who we are. The burden of becoming yourself This is where the pressure of modern life becomes deeper than simple decision fatigue. We are no longer just choosing products, jobs, hobbies, or schedules. We are asked to choose a self. To discover ourselves. Express ourselves. Build ourselves. Curate ourselves. Reinvent ourselves. Stay true to ourselves. That language sounds empowering at first. It flatters us. It suggests depth and authenticity and courage. But it also places an enormous burden on ordinary people. If identity is something I must construct for myself, then every decision starts to carry unbearable weight. My choices are no longer just practical. They become existential. The wrong career is not merely inconvenient; it feels like a betrayal of the self. The wrong relationship is not merely painful; it feels like evidence that I still do not know who I am. Even small things begin to carry symbolic force, because they are all drawn into the endless project of self-creation. No wonder so many people feel exhausted. The modern self is expected to be both free and impressive: unique, but not strange; confident, but still evolving; authentic, but also admired. We are meant to stand out while somehow also reading the room. We are meant to become ourselves, but with enough success, beauty, purpose, and coherence to justify the whole performance. And because identity is treated as an inward project, there is never a final resting place. The self must always be updated, refined, defended, explained. We do not just live our lives. We monitor them. Freedom, in this environment, stops feeling like a gift. It starts to feel like a test. This is one reason the modern conversation about identity can feel so brittle. If I have to author myself from scratch, then any criticism feels threatening. Any failure feels deeply personal. Any uncertainty feels destabilising. I do not merely make mistakes; I become one. My peace depends on my ability to keep constructing a self convincing enough to carry the weight of my life. But perhaps that is exactly the problem. Perhaps the self was never meant to bear that kind of pressure. The freedom of a received identity Christianity offers a radically different vision. It does not begin by telling you to invent yourself. It begins by telling you that you are a creature, not a self-originating project. You are made by God before you ever perform for him, known before you explain yourself, seen before you succeed. Your life is not an accidental blank page onto which you must desperately scribble meaning. And then the gospel says something even more surprising: in Christ, identity is not achieved but received. That does not mean your choices do not matter. It does not mean personality disappears. It does not mean your story becomes flat or mechanical. It means that the deepest truth about you no longer hangs on your ability to assemble a life impressive enough to justify your existence. If you belong to Christ, your truest identity is not “the one who got everything right.” It is not “the one who maximised every option.” It is not “the one who finally figured themselves out.” It is beloved, forgiven, adopted, known, held. That changes the emotional texture of life. If my identity is in Christ, then I do not need every decision to save me. I can make wise choices, but I no longer need to make ultimate choices. I can commit without feeling that every closed door is a catastrophe. I can fail without collapsing into self-contempt. I can change seasons of life without feeling that I have lost myself entirely. That is not a smaller freedom. It is a deeper one. The gospel does not trap us in passivity. It frees us from the crushing task of self-authorship. It gives us something modern life struggles to offer: a self sturdy enough to survive disappointment, weakness, and change. That is part of what shaped Identity in Christ, a devotional journal I created for people who are tired of living under the pressure to constantly define themselves. It is not about becoming a more polished version of yourself. It is about slowing down long enough to hear, from Scripture again, who you already are in Jesus. Because in the end, the greatest burden of modern freedom may not be that we have too many options. It may be that we have been taught to look to those options for something they were never meant to give us: a secure self, a lasting name, a reason to rest. In a world of endless options, grace means I no longer have to build a self strong enough to carry my life. In Christ, identity is a gift before it ever becomes a task. a way (You can find the devotional here.) © 2026 Nathan Cole. Want more content like this? 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Choosing Your Faith If God loved us before the foundations of the earth, why is it up to us to accept that love? Why do we have to choose what He has already offered? And why would someone be condemned for refusing a love they cannot fully understand? God left it as a choice, but is it fair to judge those who struggle to accept what they have never known? Even those of us who are in Christ do not always fully understand what we have received through Him. If someone like me, who was born and raised in a Christian home, is still trying to understand God’s grace and love, can we truly blame those who grew up never hearing about Him? This question bothers me because where we are born is not something we choose. God allows each of us to enter this world in different places, families, cultures, and circumstances. Scripture tells us that God’s purposes prevail (Proverbs 19: 21). So then, is it a mistake for someone to be born into a different faith tradition, whether Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, or another belief system? If God is sovereign and all-powerful, why not determine our origins in a way that gives everyone the same starting point? Why not place everyone in the same environment and with the same understanding before we enter this world? But that is not how life happens. We arrive with much of our understanding already shaped by the places and people we are born into. Before we can think, question, or choose, we are introduced to the beliefs of our families and communities. Prayers are spoken over us. Traditions are practiced around us. Values are taught to us. All of this happens while we are still unaware, waiting to enter the world. Then we arrive. We are taught what our loved ones believe. We are guided by the faith, culture, and experiences that surround us. We did not choose our starting point; it was given to us. As we grow older, some people begin to question, some deepen their faith, and others search for something different. Then there are those who are never introduced to faith at all. At some point, they encounter the gospel and are asked to consider something completely new. They are invited into a relationship with God without the same foundation that others may have received from childhood. As Christians, we believe the Holy Spirit is the One who convicts and guides people as they respond to God. While writing this, I was tempted to discuss whether we can know with complete certainty that one religion is better than another. Every person has experiences, evidence, traditions, and encounters that shape what they believe. These things influence how we understand the world and where we place our faith. But even as Christians, we experience moments of uncertainty. There are days when I question God, when I wonder where He is, and when trusting Him feels difficult. I believe this is part of the human experience. Faith, by its nature, requires trust in what we cannot fully see. Absolute certainty is something we often desire but rarely possess. This is why faith matters. We choose to believe even when we cannot see everything clearly. Sometimes it is difficult to look beyond the physical and trust the spiritual. Yet we continue because we were created with a longing for something beyond ourselves. As people from different backgrounds, denominations, and beliefs searching for meaning beyond this life, none of us has the answer humanity is looking for. Pointing at one another, judging one another, and trying to determine another person’s worth does not bring us closer to the truth. I do not believe God created us to spend our lives condemning one another. We are called to love because we were first loved by Him. This is the command Christ gave us. Without love, our lives become a constant attempt to prove that we are right and others are wrong — something we cannot do with perfect understanding. When I think about all the countries and places I could have been born into, I see myself as a small piece of a much larger puzzle. But every piece matters. Without you or me, the picture is incomplete. So whether our faith looks the same or different, our responsibility is to give what we have been given: love, compassion, kindness, and grace. I do not know how this piece ended up talking about peace and togetherness. That was not where I thought it would go when I started writing. But maybe that is the point. When we truly begin to understand God’s love, we become less focused on proving ourselves and more focused on loving others. Because the God who loved us before we knew Him calls us to love one another. © 2026 Sabina Kumi. Want more content like this? Explore more articles in Culture & Faith. "Choosing your faith is one of the most personal journeys a person can take, shaped by everything you have lived and everyone who has loved you." Press Ctrl + P (Windows) or Cmd + P (Mac) to print this article or save it as a PDF.

“Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith…” ~ 1 Peter 5:8–9 (NLT). If you’re a wildlife enthusiast like me, you’ve probably spent hours watching National Geographic channel footage. A cheetah blazing after a gazelle. An elephant gently nudging its calf. It’s really just good TV. But lions…lions are something else. Of all the big cats, lions carry this weight, this authority. They’re not the fastest or even the most lethal one-on-one. And fun fact: they actually live on grasslands and savannahs, not jungles. The whole “king of the jungle” title is a bit of a branding win, if you think about it. But watch them hunt and you’ll get why the title stuck. They don’t just chase. They strategise. They stalk, they fan out and probe. And here’s the key thing: they don’t go after the strongest. They look for the one lagging behind. The young one or the injured one. The one that’s drifted just a little too far from the group. They find that crack in the armour and they go for it. If you’re alone, cut off, looking vulnerable and appetising? You’re done! The Amalekites Had the Same Playbook Back in Moses’ time, the Israelites were moving through the wilderness of Sin, fresh out of Egypt. Exhausted and disoriented and making their way through terrain that wasn’t kind to anyone. And their arch-enemies, the Amalekites, were watching. The Amalekites were desert nomads, direct descendants of Esau’s grandson. Their whole livelihood was raiding and plundering. And they had this specific, almost calculated behaviour: they didn’t attack the front of the Israelite group. They targeted the rear. The ones who were struggling to keep up. The tired ones. The ones already falling apart (Deuteronomy 25:17–19). Peak lion mentality. Now, why were the Israelites straggling in the first place? That part’s important. The Dangerous Spiral of Complaining At Rephidim, there was no water. And the Israelites, as they tended to do, lost it. They argued with Moses. They groaned. They said things like: “Is the Lord here with us or not?” These are the same people who had a pillar of fire leading them at night and a pillar of smoke guiding them by day. The presence of God was literally visible, right there, ahead of them the whole time! And yet here they were questioning whether God had shown up!! I mean… I get it, though. When you’re thirsty and exhausted and your feet hurt and you don’t know what’s coming next, the dramatic evidence of yesterday doesn’t feel like enough for today. That’s just human nature. We feel what we feel. But here’s the thing about complaining. It doesn’t just vent frustration. It droops your shoulders. It fills your head with weight. It turns your eyes inward and downward, away from what’s actually ahead of you. And when that happens, you slow down. And when you slow down, you straggle. And when you straggle… Well. You already know what the lions are doing. Prayer does something different. It doesn’t always fix the problem immediately, but it connects you. It keeps you sane. It gives you peace while you wait. The Israelites had access to that, had the very presence of God with them, and still didn’t lean into it. That’s the tragedy. COVID Taught Us This the Hard Way I’ve watched this play out in real life, not just in ancient Israel. During the COVID lockdowns, a lot of people I know lost their jobs, lost their routines, and churches closed their doors. And slowly, quietly, people started drifting. Just… slowly. They were stuck home, alone, scrolling through media, entertaining themselves binge-watching, going through self-help books, and without even realising it, they stopped staying connected to community, to God and to people who could see what was happening. They let their guard down. And by the time things normalised, some of them had just… settled into that drift. Temptation had walked in through a door they didn’t even know was open. Greed, isolation and the habits that crept in, none of it felt like a roaring lion at the time. It never does. That’s the whole point. What Do You Actually Do When a Lion Charges? Okay, so I got curious and asked Grok (in expert mode) what you’re actually supposed to do if you encounter a lion on foot. And the answer sounded like a Bible verse. This is what it said: “Do not run. Running makes the lion chase. Stand tall. Raise your arms. Shout loud and firm. Wave your arms to look bigger and more threatening. Throw rocks or sticks toward the lion. If it charges or grabs you, fight with everything you have. Aim for eyes, nose, and mouth. Keep fighting until it breaks off. Many lions give up when the target resists strongly.” Sound familiar? “Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith.” (1 Peter 5:8–9) “Put on the full armour of God, so that you can take your stand.” (Ephesians 6:13–14) “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7) Don’t run. Don’t hide. Don’t freeze. Resist. Make yourself known. Make it clear who you belong to. The enemy, like the lion, is looking for the path of least resistance. Give it none! Stay in the Group. Stay in the Light. Here’s what I keep coming back to. The lions don’t get the ones at the front. They get the ones who are just slightly out of reach of the group, slightly too far from the fire, slightly too worn down to keep up. Feeling alone and weary is normal. It happens to everyone. But when that weariness makes you slow down, when your eyes drift from God and land on your problems, that’s the moment to do the opposite of what feels natural. Don’t pull away. Find the people around you who are still walking strong. The ones whose eyes are still forward. Hold onto them. Ask for support. Let them be the group that keeps you from being picked off. We don’t want to show up as a blip on the radar while Satan is patrolling (Job 1:7). Stay connected. Stay covered. I often wonder: what if some of those Israelites straggling at the rear had stopped, gathered themselves, and stood firm? Would we have a record in Scripture of God performing a stunning rear-guard miracle for the ones who refused to give up? Maybe. We’ll never know. But maybe that’s exactly the point. Maybe it’s a warning written in their story so we don’t have to repeat it in ours. Stay alert. Stay connected. Don’t straggle. The lions are always watching! If this reflection encouraged you, you can support my writing or future reflections here. Your support simply helps me continue sharing thoughtful pieces like this. Thanks for reading! © 2026 Dr. Anudeep Manne. 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Introduction Most religions teach that people should live good, moral lives. One of the biggest differences between them and Christianity is in how and why one becomes good. Another huge difference between other faiths and Christianity lies in who their leaders are and what became of them. In this article, we’ll look at what makes the Christian faith so unique and why it deserves a second look if you’ve previously rejected it. Background No other religious leader has ever said what Jesus Christ said, nor has any other religious leader ever done what Jesus Christ did. For example, in the Gospel of John, Jesus declared seven “I am” statements about Himself. These statements revealed His identity as equal to Yahweh, the eternal God (who declared to Moses in Exodus 3:14, “I AM WHO I AM”), and clarified His mission to redeem mankind. 1. “I am the bread of life.” (John 6:35) Jesus says that people’s souls need nourishment, and He would provide it forever to those who believe in Him. 2. “I am the light of the world.” (John 8:12) Jesus exposes sin, reveals truth, and guides people out of spiritual darkness into the light of holiness and salvation. 3. “I am the gate for the sheep.” (John 10:7) This statement means that Jesus is the only entrance into the Kingdom of God. 4. “I am the good shepherd.” (John 10:11) Jesus describes Himself as the protector, leader, and atoning sacrifice for the people who believe in and follow Him. 5. “I am the resurrection and the life.” (John 11:25) This statement means that Jesus has the power over life and death. He gives eternal life and the assurance of resurrection to all who believe in Him. 6. “I am the way and the truth and the life.” (John 14:6) Jesus says He is the exclusive path to God, and salvation is found in Him only (and He has the credentials to back up His statement). He is the truth that reveals the way to be reconciled to God. 7. “I am the true vine.” (John 15:5) Jesus says that since He is the source of all spiritual growth and fruitfulness, believers must abide (remain) in Him to live productive, godly lives. In his book, Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis argued that the claims Jesus made about Himself leave no room for honoring Him merely as a good moral teacher. In essence, he was asking everyone the same question Jesus asked His disciples: “Who do you say I am?” (Matthew 6:15). A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God; or else a madman or something worse. Human teachers and prophets don’t rise from the dead. The resurrection forces us to consider the implications of that fact on our lives. If Jesus is God, then His resurrection becomes His credentials, confirming His divine authority and claim on our lives. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. (1 Corinthians 15:14, NIV) How and why does one become good? Christianity teaches that mankind is evil at heart because of sin. Sin has corrupted every human heart because every single person who has ever lived on earth has rebelled against God, the creator of the universe, and rejected His authority. The prophet Jeremiah hit the nail on the head when he spoke about the wicked heart of mankind. The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9, KJV). The following Scriptures also emphasize the innate sinfulness of mankind. There is no one righteous, not even one (Romans 3:10, NIV).All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23, NIV). The Bible says that true goodness can’t be obtained by human effort, but only through the transformation that occurs when we accept God’s grace through Jesus Christ. This truth levels the playing field for everyone. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast (Ephesians 2:8–9, NIV). Because of Jesus’ resurrection, people who believe in and accept Him as Lord of their lives receive new hearts and are empowered by the Holy Spirit to live righteously. This is what it means to be “born again." Contrasting the world’s religions Christianity is the only religion whose founder, Jesus Christ, came back to life after He was cruelly tortured, nailed to a Roman cross, and died after tremendous suffering. [1] His literal appearance was verified by His Apostles, and over 500 others (1 Corinthians 15:6). The empty tomb proves that He conquered sin and death and offers eternal life to all who believe in Him (Romans 10:9). No other religion offers a Savior who is goodness itself who loves His followers enough to die for their sins and impart His righteousness to them. Ancient extra-biblical texts, such as those of Josephus (a Jewish historian; see Antiquities of the Jews) and Tacitus (a Roman historian and politician; see the Annals and Histories), verify the historicity of the Gospel accounts of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Archaeological discoveries provide evidence of people and places in the New Testament, such as Pontius Pilate (the Pilate Stone), Caiaphas, the high priest (the Caiaphas Ossuary), and the Pools of Bethesda and Siloam. Other key evidence includes the Rylands Papyri (P52) (the earliest Gospel of John fragment) and a 1st-century fishing boat (the Jesus Boat), which confirm details of Jesus’ life and the Roman era. Confucianism is an ancient Chinese moral philosophy that emphasizes moral virtue and social harmony. It relies on the innate goodness of people and their efforts, and it doesn’t address humanity’s sin, nor does it offer salvation. [2] Buddhism teaches that goodness comes from following the Eightfold Path to overcome desire and ignorance, and guide followers toward right speech and right action. The ultimate goal of Buddhism is to attain enlightenment in order to escape the endless cycle of karma and suffering. Buddhism sees goodness as a means of freeing the self and doesn’t see the need for a relationship with a personal God. To them, sin isn’t a transgression against a divine authority; instead, it causes negative karma. Hinduism is a pantheistic (many gods) religion that holds that goodness is a duty and that one’s actions affect karma, which follows a natural cause-and-effect pattern. They believe that doing good deeds will lead to a better reincarnation in the next life. Salvation is achieved by self-effort, resulting in liberation from the cycle of rebirth, rather than by obtaining the gift of grace from a loving Creator. In Islam, one is good only by obeying Allah’s commands as revealed in their holy book, the Qur’an. Proponents of this religion believe that on Judgment Day, their good deeds will be weighed against their bad deeds. Their salvation or punishment depends on whether their good deeds outweigh their evil deeds. This is works-based salvation, completely opposite to the Christian concept of grace by faith through Christ. Followers of Judaism are monotheists (believers in one God) who are still waiting for their Messiah to come. They don’t believe Jesus was the Son of God. They view Him as a rabbi who lived in the first century. Groups that deny the Trinity and the deity of Christ include the Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses. These religions started in the 1800s and departed significantly from Biblical Christianity. [3] They are distinct movements with different founders and doctrines. Due to their deviation from orthodox doctrines, they are labeled “cults” by mainstream Christianity and sociologists. Conclusion This article attempted to show good reasons and concrete evidence for why Christianity is the one true faith. When people say, “all roads lead to heaven,” they’re forgetting the huge differences between the world’s religions that result in mutually exclusive claims. Truth by nature is exclusive. Truth demonstrates the law of non-contradiction, a fundamental principle of logic stating that contradictory propositions cannot both be true in the same sense. Truth is established by its source, Jesus Christ, not by popularity or cultural acceptance. Only Christianity reveals the one true God, personified as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Other religions show humanity’s search for God. Christianity shows God’s search for humanity. Its unique claim is that Jesus conquered death. He invites all people to come to Him and find rest for their souls. Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28, NIV) © Debra Hodges References: 1. The Women Find the Empty Tomb, TableTalk Magazine (2023) 2. Confucianism — What is it? — Compelling Truth. (n.d.). CompellingTruth.org. https://www.compellingtruth.org/Confucianism.html 3. The Cult of Personality | Tabletalk. (2025, July 11). Tabletalk. https://tabletalkmagazine.com/article/2005/10/cult-personality/

When most people think about planting seeds for nonbelievers, they imagine sharing the message of salvation, explaining the meaning of the cross, quoting Scripture, or inviting someone to church. These are good and beautiful things, and they absolutely matter. But they are not the only seeds God uses. Just as the natural world is filled with seeds of every shape, size, color, and function, the spiritual seeds that reach people are just as varied. And the fruit that is grown can also be different, remember that. So, my question to you is: Are you destroying the harvest before it ever has a chance to be planted? I ask this sincerely because throughout my life I’ve encountered churches, leaders, elders, and everyday Christians who shut down questions they personally don’t find relevant. More recently, it has been Christians in my comments section telling me that the things I write about are “stupid,” “irrelevant,” or “not important to our faith.” But if something is truly irrelevant, then why is it in the Bible at all? Do you really believe God wrote Scripture only for neurotypical thinkers? Do you imagine He didn’t know some of us would learn differently, process differently, or get curious about things others overlook? People ask about unicorns. They ask why Jesus’ tears were described as blood. They wonder about the Hebrew versus Greek meaning of “virgin.” They ask about Pangea, the Big Bang, or how there was light before the sun. These questions are not irrelevant, they are seeds! And often the very questions that can lead someone deeper into Scripture. Yet Christians shut them down, call them irrelevant, and shame people for there curiosity. I see this online everywhere I look, when that happens, it isn’t just the question that gets rejected, you just rejected the person who asked it. When Curiosity Gets Treated as a Threat There is an entire demographic of people the church is missing because of a narrow, traditional idea of what “planting a seed” looks like. Some people need the logic before faith makes sense. Some need to explore the strange corners of Scripture. Some need to ask the questions no one else thinks to ask. And when you dismiss those questions as irrelevant or stupid, you destroy the harvest before it ever begins. I can’t count how many times I’ve been told my questions were dumb, stupid, a waste of time, or irrelevant. I’m just one person, but I’m not the only one who is like this. There are millions like me, people who learn differently, think differently, and approach Scripture from angles that don’t fit any standard mold. Every time someone is shut down, a seed goes unplanted. And the horror is that many of those seeds could have grown into something beautiful if someone had simply taken the time to nurture them. This is why the church loses curious people. This is why so many walk away before they ever truly begin. They weren’t rejecting God, they were rejecting the feeling of being dismissed, belittled, or treated as though their questions made them a problem instead of a person. Why I Write the Way I Do I come down hard on this because I am that person. I needed to understand the things others brushed off. I dove into those hyper‑focused rabbit holes, and every single one drew me closer to God. I also happen to be stubborn enough to push past the comments, the dismissal, and the gas lighting. But not everyone is. Some people will walk away the moment their curiosity is treated as stupid. This is why I write the way I do. I write for the people who want to know these things. For the neurodivergent thinkers who see patterns others miss. For the curious minds who get excited about the “irrelevant” details. Because those details are seeds! Imagine letting your guard down and getting excited with someone about the strangest little detail in Scripture, and watching that excitement turn into faith. Every question is a seed. Every curiosity is a doorway. Every “irrelevant” detail is a chance to explore the Bible with joy. I’ve gone down some wild rabbit holes, and every single one has drawn me closer to God. We spend our lives masking and conforming to fit into your world. Maybe it’s time for you to step into ours, and learn to plant different kinds of seeds. I will leave you with this: “This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God." Luke 8:11 There is not a single word in the Bible that is not a seed to be used. © 2026 Jane Isley. Want more content? Explore more articles in Exploring Scripture and Word Studies. Press Ctrl + P (Windows) or Cmd + P (Mac) to print this article or save it as a PDF.

Before you read the rest of this article, I want to make a disclaimer about my positions and myself. I did pray to the Holy Spirit to guide me in this article beforehand– to write through me in truth and through the lens of Jesus. I am a human, and I am not perfect. I acknowledge that my beliefs are not 100% correct and are often clouded by the world around me. The only perfect person is Jesus, and that is exactly why I follow Him. While political views change with trends and beliefs, Jesus never changes. So, as I write this article, keep in mind that I am not perfect– but Jesus is. If you want to know Him more, seek Him out – read the Bible. That is my best advice for those who want to know Him more. Start with the Word, and let Him guide you on. We live in a current communication and political climate (and honestly, we probably always have) where we can’t seem to coexist with one another. I see people, both Republicans and Democrats, not tolerating one another simply because they have different political beliefs. For example, I often see arguments where many Democratic people don’t want to interact with Republicans because they automatically assume they are racists or that they support Trump. And I often see many Republicans not wanting to interact with Democrats because they are too ‘woke’ or they assume that they are mentally unstable. And can I be so real for a moment? This is really weird. This is insane – for someone to assume all of these qualities about a person simply because they follow a political party. Personally, I am independent and probably will be for the rest of my life, because I just cannot stand this animosity between the two parties. I know many people who are completely okay with not interacting with their opposing political party. And I know many people who are okay, and actually happy to see a person of another political party suffering. For example, after Charlie Kirk died, I had a friend of mine tell me that she didn’t care because he was a Republican. I was baffled. I have many Republican family members, and for her to say that meant that she wouldn’t care if they died either. I called her out on the ridiculousness of her claim, and she simply replied that she came from a Democratic state – as if that justifies her words. What I’m trying to get at here is that people take their political party way too seriously. It is getting to the point where people won’t even listen to one another if others don’t share their same beliefs. This is extremely unethical and very dangerous for the future of our country. People are beginning to think in absolutes – that being a part of a political party automatically comes with a hardwired list of attributes and beliefs. This kind of thinking is black and white – it leaves no room for the understanding of situational factors and life experiences. It leaves no room for the celebration of different backgrounds and personalities. God gifted us each with different gifts and lives. “We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us…” (Romans 12:6). This is something to be cherished, not censored. Because of this current political and communication climate, people are censoring themselves in fear of social disapproval and retaliation. Isn’t the United States built on the freedom of different liberties, such as speech, religion, and expression? It is a shame that people are forgetting this crucial part of our country. We all need to hold tight onto the habit of respectful dissent – as mentioned in my previous article about ethically communicating. Deep down, does your political party matter so much to you that you would ignore and avoid opposing beliefs? Let’s get one thing straight: no political party has the power to save you. Even if you do follow a party, there will still be war, crime, and injustice in the world. We live in a broken world. Therefore, no person has been saved or redeemed by any political party. Maybe you’ve felt a sense of justice, purpose, or belonging by identifying with a party, but something is missing. You know who can actually save you and bring joy into your life? Jesus can. Jesus teaches love, and what better way to spread love than to love your neighbor? “The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these” (Mark 12:31). Jesus didn’t come to dominate the world and force people to follow Him. He came to save and recognize the hurting, the sick, the broken. Instead of idolizing something that will always change (because, face it, political parties and their ideologies are constantly changing and will continue to do so), follow the One who never changes. I’ve found that I am much more passionate about helping others and bringing light into the world now that I follow Jesus. When I was a part of a political party, my activism was superficial, and I felt as if I were performing just to impress others. I wanted them to see so badly that I was a good person, but it never really satisfied my soul. I felt pressured to post things that I didn’t fully understand, all for the sake of looking like a good person and, of course, gaining approval from my peers. But I actually feel passionate about helping others now, especially knowing that Jesus sees and loves me in all conditions, which is impossible to achieve from anything or anyone else. So, I urge you all to stop idolizing your political party. I’m not telling you to stop following one as a whole, but I am telling you to quit putting it on a pedestal. It doesn’t matter if you are a Republican, Democrat, or anything else – stop idolizing the party. Get out of your own worldview and comfort zone and start learning about other beliefs and opinions. Challenge yourself to befriend those you don’t necessarily agree with. After all, differing religious and political beliefs didn’t stop Jesus from befriending and helping people. Jesus said to “love your neighbor,” so I will, no matter their personality or situational factors. I don’t have to support their beliefs, but I do have to love them regardless, as Jesus does. And I choose to do so. So, will you do the same? © 2026 Sienna Krieg. Want more content like this? Explore more articles in Culture & Faith. Visit Sienna's Blog Press Ctrl + P (Windows) or Cmd + P (Mac) to print this article or save it as a PDF.

This message is installment two in Randy DeVaul’s series on the miracles of Jesus. Together, these teachings uncover how each miracle reveals a different facet of God’s glory, compassion, and intentional timing. If you read through the Gospels with an attentive heart, you begin to notice something remarkable: Jesus never performed miracles the same way twice. He healed with a word, with a touch, with mud, with a command shouted across a distance. He multiplied food, calmed storms, raised the dead, cast out demons, and restored broken bodies and broken spirits. But behind every miracle, there was always a purpose: intentional, meaningful, and deeply revealing. The miracles of Jesus were never random displays of power. They were windows into the heart of God. Miracles That Revealed God’s Glory Some miracles were performed simply to reveal the goodness and compassion of God. When Jesus healed the man born blind in John 9, He explained that the man’s lifelong condition existed “so that the works of God might be displayed in him.” That miracle wasn’t about solving a medical problem. It was about revealing the character of God: His mercy, His attentiveness, His ability to bring light into the darkest places. The same is true when Jesus healed the woman who had been bent over for eighteen years in Luke 13, or when He cleansed the ten lepers in Luke 17. These miracles were not performed because someone deserved them or because Jesus needed to prove anything. They were performed because God delights in restoring what is broken. They were living testimonies that God sees, God cares, and God acts. Miracles That Revealed Jesus as the Son of God Other miracles were unmistakable declarations of Jesus’ divine identity. When He raised Lazarus from the dead in John 11, He wasn’t simply comforting a grieving family. He was revealing Himself as “the resurrection and the life.” When He walked on water in Matthew 14, the disciples responded with worship, declaring, “Truly You are the Son of God.” When He forgave the paralytic’s sins in Mark 2, the miracle of healing confirmed His authority to do what only God can do. These miracles were not just acts of compassion. They were revelations. They answered the question Jesus asked His disciples: “Who do you say that I am?” They showed that Jesus was not merely a teacher or prophet. He was and is God in the flesh. Miracles That Formed the Faith of the Disciples Some miracles were not about the crowds at all. They were about shaping the hearts of the disciples. When Jesus calmed the storm in Mark 4, He wasn’t just demonstrating power over nature. He was teaching His followers to trust Him in the storms of life. When He directed Peter to cast the nets again in Luke 5, the miraculous catch was a lesson in obedience. When He provided the temple tax through a coin in a fish’s mouth in Matthew 17, He was teaching them to trust God’s provision. These miracles were classrooms. They were moments where Jesus gently, patiently formed the faith of those who would one day carry His message to the world. Miracles That Required Human Participation And then there were the miracles that could not have happened without human obedience. These miracles reveal something profound: God often chooses to work through people, not just for them. The feeding of the five thousand in Matthew 14 is the clearest example. Jesus could have created bread and fish out of thin air. Instead, He asked the disciples to bring what they had — five loaves and two fish. He blessed it, broke it, and placed it back into their hands. The miracle happened as they obeyed, as they walked, as they distributed what seemed impossibly small. Without their participation, there would have been no miracle. The same pattern appears at the wedding in Cana in John 2, where the servants filled the jars with water before Jesus transformed it into wine. It appears again in John 21, when the resurrected Jesus told the disciples to cast their nets on the right side of the boat. It appears at Lazarus’ tomb in John 11, where Jesus told the people to roll away the stone before He called Lazarus out. In each case, the miracle required a step of obedience — often simple, sometimes strange, always significant. The Miracle We Often Miss This final category is where many believers struggle today. We pray for God to move, but we hesitate to take the step He asks of us. We want the miracle, but we resist the obedience that prepares the way for it. Sometimes the miracle is waiting on the other side of a phone call, a prayer, a confession, a step of faith, an act of generosity, or a willingness to serve. Sometimes God is ready to multiply what we have, but we never place it in His hands. Sometimes God is ready to open a door, but we never walk toward it. The feeding of the five thousand reminds us that God’s power often flows through human obedience. The disciples didn’t perform the miracle, but the miracle didn’t happen without them. A God Who Invites Us In The miracles of Jesus reveal a God who is compassionate, powerful, wise, and deeply relational. He heals to reveal God’s glory. He acts to reveal His identity. He teaches to shape our faith. And He invites us to participate so that we may learn what it means to walk with Him. The greatest miracle may not be what God does for us, but what He chooses to do through us. © 2026 Randy DeVaul, MA. Want more content like this? Check out Exploring Scripture. Press Ctrl + P (Windows) or Cmd + P (Mac) to print this article or save it as a PDF.