Essential Grace Blog

Have you ever considered psychology as something that goes hand in hand with the Christian faith? Many people have differing views on this and it may not always be a clear cut answer. I have asked this question myself especially in the first year of my psychology degree. I struggled with many concepts in psychology theory; always defensive and wanting to come up with a corresponding ‘Christian-like’ perspective to the secular writings of stalwarts such as Freud. I know, the idea in itself is a lost cause. I am not sure when this defensive attitude stopped, and where I actually began to learn that theories are pretty much just what they say on the box, theories. At some point I learnt about multi-disciplinary approaches, picking and choosing what is appropriate for the context, client, and study. This insight was and continues to be liberating as I continue to grow in other fields related to psychology. This is how I came to research positive psychology...

Happy Friday! I don't know about you, but for me Friday is a special day. I can revel in the ending of the week, I can flip flops to work, and I can pretend I don't have to work on Saturday. Today I just wanted to write on a particular passage in the Bible that has been on my heart since the first time I read it (about 16 or so years ago). You see, I was brought up in a Christian home, my siblings, parents, and extended family have always been in one ministry or another so I was always exposed to the Gospel. However, making a personal choice to be a believer happened when I was 10 and a half years old. I was given a Good News Bible in Sunday school which has always been with me although it is much tattered by now. Reading it and learning about the life God called me to live happened largely during my high school years. I thank God for this because a lot of what I experienced after leaving high school - and Malawi later on - was taught to me in those four years; and has been...

         There are some passages that we come across in the Word that jump out at us and seem to be so self-explanatory. Then there are others that leaves us scratching our heads wondering just what to make of the text, and often we tend to avoid such passages in favour of the free flowing text that speaks to us.         One such passage that leaves me stumped is 1 John chapter 2 verse 12 to 14. The letters from John are a particular favourite of mine mostly because of his writing style. I find him to be straight forward and precise in his instruction. this passage says;               " I write to you, little children because your sins are forgiven                 I write to you fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning                  I write to you, young men because you have overcome the wick...