Articles by Desiring God

Marshall Segal | Forgiveness may feel impossible right now, but you can find peace, even pursue peace, by learning to trust God and his coming, perfect justice.

Greg Morse | If we really believed in hell — in eternal, conscious torment — might we have more courage to tell people about Jesus?

Jon Bloom | How can we respond when faced with profound and seemingly senseless evil? We can begin by cultivating the spiritual discipline of handing the fruit back to God.

David Mathis | Eternal conscious punishment may be the most emotionally difficult doctrine to affirm in our day. How do we handle the existential angst that hell creates?

Scott Hubbard | Many of us try to make the best parts of this life last forever. But God made our best seasons short to prepare us for a better season that will never end.

Greg Morse | The Bible tells us that the prayers of the saints will usher in the end of the world. What will those kinds of prayers be like, and how will they come true?

Marshall Segal | Many of us who never abuse alcohol still experience a kind of respectable drunkenness, an indulgence in something good that dulls our hearts to God.

David Mathis | Getting our hearts happy in God can be hard work, but our Lord loves to meet us and warm us as we put away excuses and train our souls for true delight.

Scott Hubbard | Men of the world may chase physical beauty no matter where it leads — to bed, to idols, to ruin. But beauty without discretion is a gold ring in a pig’s snout.

Jon Bloom | When our children go far from home to follow Jesus, we have an opportunity for paradoxical joy. We can join the happy fellowship of the left behind.

Marshall Segal | Sometimes the last three words in our prayers — in Jesus’s name — slowly lose their weight and meaning. Here are six reasons to slow down and savor them.

David Mathis | Teaching is the pastors’ first and greatest calling, but it’s not the only way we put God’s word to work. Paul gives us four ways to use Scripture in Christian ministry.

Greg Morse | If we let envy have its way with us, the gifts we have fuel pride and the gifts we don’t breed bitterness. How can we train our eyes with grace?

Scott Hubbard | If the apostle Paul joined our prayer circles, we might be surprised how different his prayers seem. We often focus on circumstances, but he takes aim at the heart.

Marshall Segal | His first cancer diagnosis sent Tim Keller on a quest to experience the awe and intimacy that God promises to those who pray. Twelve years later, he wrote the book on what he learned.

David Mathis | Resolved: to put the voice of Jesus first in 2024 — first in preference, first in practice, and first in priority.

Scott Hubbard | If you want to plan in a way that honors God, plan like a mortal. Plan like a child. Plan like a worshiper. Plan like a dreamer. Plan like a sub-planner.

Jon Bloom | Why do millions love to sing “Be Thou My Vision,” a hymn crafted from the words of an unknown poet? Because the lyrics paint the burning heart of a truly Christian life.

Greg Morse | While fewer today may realize it, mankind was born for poetry. We were made to find and savor the right words for unspeakable realities.

David Mathis | Majesty himself came at Christmas — but with no majesty that humans yet could see. But the one who came without splendor would soon come into unsurpassed majesty as the risen and reigning Messiah.

Marshall Segal | As you open your homes and presents this Christmas, make the feast as Christian as possible. Fix your eyes on the Son who came, and will come again.

Scott Hubbard | Past joys now gone can rob us of present happiness. But the wise of heart will thank God for what was, aching for what is still yet to come.

Greg Morse | If the spirits of the damned could visit our Christmas feasts and festive trees, what might they say of our holiday? A story from the Gospels gives us an idea.

Marshall Segal | God is the giver of every good thing you might lose, and he is the giver of every good thing you might crave. That makes gratitude a great weapon against temptation.

Jon Bloom | “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” What might it look like for us to actually show that kind of love to our neighbors this Christmas?

Greg Morse | “This I call to mind, and therefore I have hope.” In the darkness of suffering, light often dawns when we pause, remember, and call to mind our Lord.

Scott Hubbard | The history of Christmas is darker and more unruly than you might think, but we still have more reasons than ever to celebrate the coming of our King.

David Mathis | Many miss the opportunity of Advent. Others commit to more than they can sustain. The wise develop a modest, Christ-exalting plan to make the most of the season.

David Mathis | In Christ, we do not sin in response to sin. When insulted, we endure. When reviled, we bless. When slandered, we pray, forgive, and follow in the footsteps of Jesus.

Marshall Segal | If you are a younger man, you need the example and encouragement of men who are further along in faith. You need the firm love of spiritual fathers.

Scott Hubbard | Christians are an unusual people who don’t wait until after the fact to thank God. No, we thank him every step of the way.

David Mathis | Good pastors don’t just work hard to preach to their people; they help them through conflicts with a calm force that brings order to the chaos of life.

Greg Morse | The craft of Christian writing obsesses over reality, arranges truth with care, quests for fitting phrases — and stands ever enthralled by the One above all words.

Marshall Segal | Romance can be a friend and an ally, or an enemy and a terror. It can point us to the Love we were made for, or it can leave us lovesick forever.

Jon Bloom | Even when arguments don’t win the mind, love may win the heart. Dying sacrifices speak to our deepest hopes and draw out our highest admiration.

Scott Hubbard | What might happen in the church if even single men increasingly thought of themselves as spiritual fathers for younger men?

Greg Morse | When a society makes room for homosexual lust, the disorder ripples throughout that society, even to the youngest and most vulnerable.

Marshall Segal | What does it say about us that as we grow older, we often lose our ability to notice and enjoy the brilliance and creativity of God in all that he’s made?

David Mathis | What joy could be greater than seeing the lost saved, the saints sanctified, and the kingdom of darkness destroyed? The joy of having your own name written in heaven.

Scott Hubbard | When was the last time you stopped, looked up, and stared at the sky? A song of glory resounds. A heaven of wonders awaits.

David Mathis | The Reformation began in 1517, but you will search in vain for an end date. The work continues as each generation, standing upon the shoulders of others, comes to drink for themselves at the headwaters of God’s own word.

Jon Bloom | “The shadow proves the sunshine.” Those lyrics are a profound window into reality, and might help lead someone out of the shadows of spiritual darkness.

Greg Morse | Maybe we say “if only” to protect us from the disappointment of dreams fulfilled and longings still unmet. Maybe the grass is always greener — and we prefer to have it so.

Marshall Segal | If you want to live your single years well, find good answers to five crucial questions: Who’s over you? Who’s ahead of you? Who’s beside you? Who’s behind you? And who’s against you?

Scott Hubbard | How can normal Christians grow in counseling others? Learn from the Wonderful Counselor. Listen — really listen — to others. And then pray, discern, and respond.

Greg Morse | We need men in pulpits who will preach the whole counsel of God — the promises and warnings, the mercies and conditions, the comforting and the discomforting.

Jon Bloom | What makes the brief life of Robert Murray M’Cheyne so compelling? He lived to the hilt. He burned with love for Christ. He was a truly holy man.

Scott Hubbard | How does a godly young man relate to his sisters in Christ? By diligently cultivating purity, clarity, courage, and community.

Marshall Segal | One way to grow as a husband is to learn from a bad one. Here are five marks of a foolish man.

Greg Morse | Live for something. Stand for something. Die for something. If God has made you a man, then rise up and act like one.