Articles by Desiring God

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.

David Mathis | Christ calls his preachers to “use Scripture.” It is the pastor’s tool belt, his staff, his weapon, his wand, his scalpel for the most delicate and exacting of surgeries.

Scott Hubbard | When it seems like night may never end, keep obeying your Lord in the darkness, and dare to believe that he will bring the dawn.

Marshall Segal | Unwanted waiting can be the best preparation for future ministry. Here are seven ambitions for aspiring men who feel stuck behind a closed door.

David Mathis | Our God is majestic, both in his greatness and might, and his grace and mercy. In silence we wonder, What is man that you would care for us? Who are we that your Son would die for us?

Greg Morse | When was the last time you got lost thinking about your bride? Have you let life rob you of the radiant, ever-changing beauty beside you?

Jon Bloom | Where can we find a man true to his word — not just for a moment or some big occasion, but over a lifetime?

Marshall Segal | When faced with big life decisions, we may find surprising wisdom from a simple question, drawn from Narnia: Where’s the lion now?

David Mathis | Satan knows the devastating power of our early morning devotions. He will do whatever he can to disrupt them. But we need not be ignorant of his schemes.

Scott Hubbard | The sluggard can find a home in any soul, however hardworking. Have you found weapons for putting your laziness to death?

Jon Bloom | The same Jesus who invited the weary and heavy laden also called his followers to hate their families. How do we understand the hardest words of Christ?

Marshall Segal | God wrote a book — the greatest book ever written. Because he decided to reveal himself in human words and phrases, we should want to read as well as humanly possible.

Greg Morse | Should Christians pray the imprecatory psalms? Did these curses die at the cross, or do they have a counterpart in the new-covenant religion?

David Mathis | The Christian work life is founded squarely on Christ’s finished work and aimed at his eternal glory.

Scott Hubbard | The next time “not feeling like it” tempts you to keep your Bible closed or pass a morning without prayer, remember all the good God can bring through routine.

Scott Hubbard | Maybe you used to write but fell out of the habit. Maybe you’ve never written much of anything outside of school. Either way, you might consider what a pen might do for your joy in God.

Greg Morse | Why do so many hit a wall in their early forties, wondering who they are and what they should be doing?

David Mathis | The call to “greet one another with a holy kiss” may strike us as odd and outdated. But what lessons might God have for us in this uncomfortable command?

Marshall Segal | Though Jesus was not a father or mother, he sympathizes with the lies parents face in the wilderness of the little years. And he can overcome them.

David Mathis | Biblical kissing may seem foreign and uncomfortable today. But press through the discomfort, and the kiss is a stunning window into the glory of Christ.

Scott Hubbard | More than once, the Bible encourages quietness in women. What kind of quietness pleases God, and what kind of loudness defies him?

Jon Bloom | Is there a godly habit you really want to start? Or an ungodly habit you really need to break? These four steps might help you press through.

Marshall Segal | Like blades of grass, we are here today, gone tomorrow — frail, fragile, finite. But those who fear and follow God know a steadfast love that will outlive the mountains.

Greg Morse | Many come to the end of life almost saved, almost rescued from God’s wrath, almost in possession of joy forevermore. But only almost.

Scott Hubbard | On occasion, God may call us to renounce sleep for the sake of something greater. But on most nights, he welcomes us to embrace the godliness of a good night’s sleep.

Jon Bloom | Sometimes fellow pastors have such strong, diverging convictions that they cannot continue together. What can we learn from the splitting of Paul and Barnabas?

David Mathis | God made us to fast, and to feast. But on most days, he made us to enjoy a modest portion of daily bread, received with thanksgiving and self-control.