The final year as an undergraduate is often filled with excitement, anxiety, planning, and changes. During my last year at UCI, I was finishing up my psychology classes, filling out my petition to graduate, thinking about graduate school, and preparing to move home. It was a year of many changes. I thought I was ready [...]
“The joy of the Lord is your strength.” (Nehemiah 8:10) There was always something about this verse that perplexed me. It sounds simple enough, but it seems almost too good to be true. Is this really all it takes in times of distress? Does one merely summon all of his/her mental faculties and fiercely think, [...]
“Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer” (Romans 12:12 ESV). I’ve heard it said that man’s greatest fears lie in anticipation, and I don’t doubt it. When I anticipate the outcome of a significant situation, the absolute worst-case scenario will inevitably enter my mind and stay there until the situation has [...]
“We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Romans 5:3-5). I have read this passage many times, but [...]
One of the most popular verses that Christians quote is Philippians 4:13, which reads, “I can do all things through [Christ] who strengthens me.” Like any verse in Scripture, it is important to understand the surrounding context of this verse. In the preceding verses (Phil. 4:10-12), Paul says that he has learned how to be [...]
