Fulfilling Your Personal Definition of Happiness Is Not God’s Goal
Paul David Tripp
Our agenda, our definition of what a good God should give us, is a life that is comfortable, pleasurable, and predictable; one in which there’s lots of human affirmation and no suffering.
7 Questions That Teens Need to Answer
Paul David Tripp
Teenagers are in one of the most exciting and most important times of their lives. Paul Tripp points to seven questions they will face that will influence the shape and direction of the rest of their lives.
5 Things You Must Remember about the Resurrection
Paul David Tripp
What does it look like to look at life through the window of the resurrection? As I assess my life right here, right now, what about the resurrection must I remember? Let me suggest five things.
Lent Ends in Jesus’s Death—and Yours
Paul David Tripp
Everywhere you die, you will be resurrected to new life in that area. It is the continuing resurrection/ transformation/liberation work of sanctifying grace.
Before You Gather, Mourn Your Sin
Paul David Tripp
In our avoidance of sadness, we often numb ourselves to death with entertainment. Perhaps what we’re running from is not just sadness; perhaps we’re running from ourselves.
Are You Losing Your Gospel Mind?
Paul David Tripp
I don’t know about you, but in the rush and press of life I can lose my mind. No, I’m talking about a subtle form of insanity that often inflicts me and a vast number of my Christian brothers and sisters.
The Ultimate Human Diagnostic
Paul David Tripp
God’s rebuke is never about giving up on us; it’s about investing in us once again. God rebukes us because we need it.
The Bad News We Need to Hear
Paul David Tripp
There is one kind of bad news that you and I often work to deny but that we desperately need to face. Facing this news is a matter of life and death, even though it is the worst news ever.
Dear Pastor . . . We Are Out of Balance
Paul David Tripp
The world as God created it was designed with perfect balance. What is balance? It is everything in its right place doing what it was meant to do. We cannot even picture such a world.
Is Your View of Women Aligned with Your Theology?
Paul David Tripp
A body of Christ is healthiest when women are esteemed and their gifts highly valued, not just in the home but also in the church.
The Best Parenting Passage in the Entire Bible
Paul David Tripp
Our children must learn to look at life through the lens of the will and plan of their Creator—to develop a comprehensive biblical worldview that is distinctively God-centered and biblically driven.
#QandA - Paul Tripp Answers Your Questions about Social Media (Reactivity Episode 8)
Paul David Tripp
In this final episode of the Reactivity podcast, Paul Tripp answers questions submitted by listeners related to how Christians should think about social media and its impact on us.
#fail - Our Need for Grace (Reactivity Episode 7)
Paul David Tripp
Paul Tripp talks about the differences between a culture of condemnation and a culture of redemption, and he makes an honest confession.
#thosepeople - Our Problem with Tribalism (Reactivity Episode 6)
Paul David Tripp
Paul Tripp talks about our culture of tribalism in which we associate primarily with those who agree with us and find it easier to react to anyone who isn't in that group.
3 Musts before You Hit “Reply”
Paul David Tripp
A commitment to wholesome talk isn’t first a commitment to a restricted vocabulary but rather to change at the level of the thoughts, desires, intentions, and choices of the heart.
#fightme - Our Problem with Craving Controversy (Reactivity Episode 5)
Paul David Tripp
Paul Tripp talks about the difference between the love of truth and the love of controversy, which is no longer motivated by the two great commands to love God and love your neighbor.
#antisocialmedia - Our Problem with Individualism (Reactivity Episode 4)
Paul David Tripp
Paul Tripp discusses the message of individualism in our culture that is destructive to our relationships and is an enemy of the community that God carefully designed for us to live in.
The Story of Jesus Guarantees How Your Story Will End
Paul David Tripp
We all work to make the plot that we have written for ourselves come true. But grace introduces another author.
#yourewrong - Our Problem with Self-Righteousness (Reactivity Episode 3)
Paul David Tripp
Paul Tripp talks about the self-centeredness and self-righteousness that work together to deceive us into believing we’re always right and about the humility that cures this selfishness and radically changes us.
#meantweets - Our Problem with Anger (Reactivity Episode 2)
Paul David Tripp
Paul Tripp talks about the normalization of emotionally driven responses and especially reactions filled with fear and anger, two of the primary emotions that drive the culture of toxic reactivity.
#toxic - Why Is Our Culture So Reactive? (Reactivity Episode 1)
Paul David Tripp
Paul Tripp discusses the toxic culture of reactivity full of anger, mockery, and disrespect that is so common to see on social media but also bleeds into our everyday relationships.
His Blessings Flow Far as the Curse Is Found
Paul David Tripp
What is the scope of the work of redemption? What in the world is God working on? What does the final chapter of the grand redemptive story look like?
In a Divisive World Your Values Reveal Your God
Paul David Tripp
The gospel is entirely relational. Christ purchased for us peace with God and, through that peace, peace with one another.
The Most Powerful Force of Transformation in the Universe
Paul David Tripp
Grace is the most powerful force of transformation in the universe. The incalculable transforming power of grace should never be minimized or doubted.
7 Commitments to Make before Using Social Media
Paul David Tripp
Because of who human beings are by God’s design and their lofty place in God’s economy, we should always treat everyone with dignity no matter who they are.
8 Ways We Normalize the Abnormal
Paul David Tripp
God has made it clear that the norm for his children should be love. It is the thing that the listening and watching world should know us for.
Money's Not the Problem
Paul David Tripp
Money can’t buy you a satisfied heart, money can’t buy you peace and happiness, and money can’t buy you a reason to get up in the morning.
Squeezing Marriage into Our Kingdom of Self
Paul David Tripp
Why do we have to marry flawed people? Wouldn’t it have been much easier if God had worked it out so that we would be fully sanctified, then married?
In an Outrage Culture, Choose Respect
Paul David Tripp
We would do well to remember that behind the social media post is someone who was formed by God to bear his likeness.
What Is the Central Hope for Your Marriage?
Paul David Tripp
What's a biblical view of marriage? It's a flawed person married to a flawed person in a fallen world. But with a faithful God.
Suffer the Loss of What Has You in Its Grip
Paul David Tripp
Lent calls us to remember once again that sin reduces us all to idolaters somehow, someway.
Dear Pastor . . . You Need to Recognize Your Limits
Paul David Tripp
Our limits and weaknesses are not in the way of what God can do through us, but our denial of limits and our delusions of independent strength are.
Give Yourself to Prayer This Lenten Season
Paul David Tripp
Lent could be one of those seasons where you take time to meditate, examine, and consider. Here are four categories that can organize this season of worship for you.
A Good Marriage Needs These 2 Things
Paul David Tripp
The key character quality in a good and lasting marriage is humility, and the way that humility demonstrates itself is when I'm approachable and willing to admit my faults.
Life Is a Glory War
Paul David Tripp
What glory right here, right now, has captured your heart, and how is it shaping the way you respond to the situations, locations, and relationships in your life?
The Best Premarital Advice Is Bad News
Paul David Tripp
In marriage preparation, we need to get at the deeper heart issues, the deeper effect of sin on the way that we function, and begin to expose how sin reveals itself.
Marriage Is a Place for Joyful Sacrifice
Paul David Tripp
Every day in a good marriage is just a series of sacrifices that you joyfully make and that you then enjoy the fruit of that spirit of sacrifice.
Hopelessness Leads Us to the True Hope of Christmas
Paul David Tripp
God created our lives to be propelled and directed by hope, and he meant our capacity for hope to drive us to him.
Watch Paul Tripp Teach on 12 Doctrines That Will Transform Your Life
Paul David Tripp
Paul David Tripp takes a close look at twelve core doctrines and how they engage and transform the human heart and mind.
8 Ways the Doctrine of Eternity Clarifies Our Values
Paul David Tripp
If you want to know what you truly value, consider where you tend to invest your time, energy, gifts, and money.
Doctrine: Information Leading to Heart Transformation
Paul David Tripp
When you enter the world of biblical truth, you’re entering a moral battleground. The great drama of life is not about information.
What Is Doctrine and Why Does It Matter?
Paul David Tripp
Faith is not just something you do with your brain. Faith is a commitment of your heart that changes the way you live every day.
4 Roles Scripture Plays in the Life of a Believer
Paul David Tripp
The doctrines of the word of God were not intended just to lay claim on your brain, but also to capture your heart and transform the way you live.
10 Things You Should Know about Marriage
Paul David Tripp
Your marriage's biggest problem is not the imperfection of your spouse. No, it is what lurks in the recesses of your heart. Your biggest struggle is with your own selfishness.
Do You Feel Alone?
Paul David Tripp
We forget who we are, and when we do, we begin to give way to doubt, fear, and timidity. Identity amnesia makes you feel poor when in fact you are rich.
Parenting Is a Process
Paul David Tripp
What character is required so that we can be part of what God is seeking to do in the lives of our children and not in the way of it?
6 Ways to Fight the Debilitating Power of Doubt
Paul David Tripp
In your suffering, doubt is a battle worth fighting. Remember, you never fight this battle alone but with the strength that is yours because of the presence and power of Christ.
Rest in God’s Faithfulness, Not Yours
Paul David Tripp
God not only forgives your sins and guarantees you a seat in eternity, but welcomes you to a radically new way of living.
3 Reality Checks for Your Marriage
Paul David Tripp
What are the essential wisdom perspectives that Scripture gives us that enable us to have realistic expectations for our marriage?
6 Daily Commitments to Make for a Good Marriage
Paul David Tripp
You can have a marriage that is mutually satisfying while being honoring to God. You really can!
What Your Marriage Desperately Needs
Paul David Tripp
Here is what you have to understand: forgiveness is a vertical commitment that is followed by a horizontal transaction.
The Longing of Every Human Heart
Paul David Tripp
There is no emotion, no experience, and no quest more authentically human than love.
Hope Means Resting
Paul David Tripp
Because your world is not out of control but under God’s careful redemptive control, you can have hope even when it looks to you as if darkness is winning the day.
The Gains of Giving Up
Paul David Tripp
Why would anyone ever fast? What is to be gained from giving things up?
Why It Is Good to Be Poor in Spirit
Paul David Tripp
Our culture is obsessed with wealth and riches. Why, then, does Jesus call the poor "blessed?"
The First Step in Celebrating Divine Grace
Paul David Tripp
It’s good to mourn, it’s healthy to be sad, and it’s appropriate to groan. Something is wrong with us, something is missing in our hearts and our understanding of life.
Why You Should Be Thankful for Your Knowledge of Sin
Paul David Tripp
Of all the blessings in my life, one is without a doubt the most wonderful blessing of all. Of all the things I most needed, but could never provide for myself, this was my deepest need.
Why Mourning Can Be Good for Us
Paul David Tripp
Mourning sin—past, present, and future—is the first step in seeking and celebrating the hope of divine grace.
How to Pray for a New Year
Paul David Tripp
The one prayer Christ calls us all to pray requires us to let go of our momentary agendas and take up his eternal one.
Grace Gives Us a New Way to Live
Paul David Tripp
The most outrageous acts of penance in the world are powerless to do what needs to be done—radically transform your heart. So you and I are left with only one final option.
Jesus Didn’t Show Up Unannounced
Paul David Tripp
The surety of past prophecies and the specificity of how Jesus fulfilled them is also your guaranteed future hope.
Help for When a Pastor’s Time and Energy Are Limited
Paul David Tripp
As you think about God-ordained limits of time, what changes are needed in your leadership community?
3 Reasons Jesus Is Our Only Hope
Paul David Tripp
The Advent story is a hope story because it chronicles the coming to earth of the One who is hope, Jesus.
Consider Your Money Philosophy
Paul David Tripp
Are we truly using and thinking of money with a Christ-centered heart? These questions will help you evaluate the role of money in your life.
How Grace Lets You Have It All
Paul David Tripp
The more you understand the magnitude of God’s grace, the more accurate will be your view of the depth of your unrighteousness; and the more you understand the depth of your unrighteousness, the more you will appreciate the magnitude of God’s gift of grace.
Faith Is Impossible
Paul David Tripp
Faith is much more than a one-time decision; it is a lifestyle lived with the presence, promises, and call of God always in view.
6 Questions about Money
Paul David Tripp
The topic of money can be tricky for Christians to navigate. What does the Bible say about it and how ought we to use it to honor God?
How to Pray When You’re Tempted by Sexual Sin
Paul David Tripp
Sexual sin is a matter of the heart. When it comes to sex, we all need to say that the biggest problem in our sexual lives is us.
6 Gospel-Centered Leadership Values
Paul David Tripp
If the primary driving force of leadership in local churches around the world was the gospel of Jesus Christ, we could avoid so much sadness in the lives of church leaders.
3 Ways to Prepare for the Battles of Ministry
Paul David Tripp
How do we strategize together as leadership communities for the battle?
5 Stumbling Blocks to Pastoral Honesty
Paul David Tripp
Why isn’t humble candor more of a regular part of our ministry leadership culture? Why aren’t we more ready to confess spiritual discouragement or struggle?
2 Reasons Bully Pastors Rise Up in the Church
Paul David Tripp
The church is experiencing a leadership crisis. Two key elements contribute to this crisis.
4 Reasons for Hope in Suffering
Paul David Tripp
In our suffering God is at work to give us something much better than what we want.
How Our Sin Dethrones God
Paul David Tripp
Sin causes us to deny our need for God and others. Sin causes us to assign to ourselves the wisdom, strength, and righteousness we do not have.
Don’t Quit the Everyday Work of Marriage
Paul David Tripp
Why do we quit paying attention? Because it is hard work to care, it is hard work to discipline ourselves to be careful, and it is hard work to always be thinking of another person.
Why We Need a Paradigm Shift about Money
Paul David Tripp
We need a brand-new way of thinking about money, a way that is rooted in the gospel story and its narrative of the lavish grace of God.
10 Notable Quotes from New Morning Mercies
Paul David Tripp
As sinners in need of grace, we can find comfort and rest knowing that God’s mercy toward us is new at the break of each day.
3 Ways to Root Your Marriage in Worship
Paul David Tripp
Where will you find the reasons to continue working on your marriage in those disappointing moments when those reasons are most needed? Well, you won’t find them in your spouse.
Living with the Enemy That Is Sin
Paul David Tripp
The greatest victory in David’s life was not a victory of David’s at all, but, rather, God’s victory of grace over the sin that had captivated David’s heart.
5 Ways the COVID-19 Pandemic Points Us to the Gospel
Paul David Tripp
When we are weary and distraught, we have a place to go. Jesus welcomes us to come to him and cast our cares on him.
Fear Not, Your Future Is Secure
Paul David Tripp
No matter how hard your story is right here, right now, it is guaranteed for you as God’s child that it will end better that you can imagine.
We May Be Confused, but God Isn’t
Paul David Tripp
As much as we try to make sense of our lives, there are things that we simply aren’t able to understand.
You Need a Theology of Uncomfortable Grace
Paul David Tripp
Mourning acknowledges that the world is not the way God meant it to be. Mourning cries out for God’s redeeming, restoring hand.
Communing with the Savior in Every Season
Paul David Tripp
We can rest in the midst of difficult seasons because of the Savior who leads us and loves us, even in unexpected and hard places.
7 Essential Things to Know about Hope
Paul David Tripp
Hope is not a situation. Hope is not a location. Hope is not a possession. Hope is not an experience. Hope is more than an insight or a truism.
5 Things Your Children Need from You
Paul David Tripp
Parenting is not a behavior-control mission; it is a heart-rescue mission. The only hope for a lost child is a radical transformation of his heart.
The Battle of Accepting Our Limits
Paul David Tripp
This gospel meditation explores the idea of being worried and confused with the Christian life, offering an invitation to turn to God when life doesn't make sense.
The Hope of Hard Moments
Paul David Tripp
This gospel meditation by Paul David Tripp encourages us to turn to Christ in our hardships, taking even our most difficult moments to him.
Lamenting Sin’s Curse
Paul David Tripp
This gospel meditation by Paul David Tripp laments the effects of sin’s curse on the world.
Christ Is a Light for the Lost
Paul David Tripp
This gospel meditation by Paul David Tripp expresses a burden to share the light of Christ with those who may be unaware of his presence.
How to Find Yourself in the Psalms
Paul David Tripp
I love the psalms because we find ourselves, but even more significantly, we find our Lord in the psalms.
The City Where We Belong
Paul David Tripp
This gospel meditation by Paul David Tripp contrasts the broken cities of this world with the restored one to come.
You Are in Constant Communication with the Lord
Paul David Tripp
If you are a true believer in Jesus, you are in constant communication with your Lord in some way—either vocally or in your heart.
Is Rest Just a Dream?
Paul David Tripp
This gospel meditation by Paul David Tripp explores the idea of elusive rest and our ultimate hope in the life to come.
5 Dangers of Money
Paul David Tripp
We come into this world as a danger to ourselves. We are naturally more discontented than contented.
How to Pray When You’re Fighting with Your Spouse
Paul David Tripp
Every marriage is guided by a set of habits. The question is, are they healthy habits that result in a God-honoring and joyful marriage?
What Did Jesus Teach about Money?
Paul David Tripp
We keep telling ourselves that the next thing will be what satisfies us, but it never does.
A Single Word to Sum Up Christmas
Paul David Tripp
God’s response to our rebellion was to give us himself. He is the great redeeming, transforming gift. He is the rescue.
Christian Sufferer, Your Lord Is Near
Paul David Tripp
I can’t think of anything that is more powerfully comforting than these words: I will never leave you or forsake you.
The Bad News about Christmas
Paul David Tripp
You need to understand that there are two parts of the Christmas story, and you need both parts to make proper sense out of the whole story.
The Present Hope of the Gospel
Paul David Tripp
It is life-changing to know and believe that Jesus came so that we would have all that we need to live as he intended right now.
3 Words of Counsel to Sufferers
Paul David Tripp
Be aware that you're always preaching to yourself some kind of gospel.
How Suffering Crushes Our Unrealistic Expectations
Paul David Tripp
Our expectation is that tomorrow will be just the same as today was, but this world is not operating the way that God intended for it to operate.
Envy Forgets Eternity
Paul David Tripp
Suffering is so real, so physical, so emotional, and so life-dominating that it’s hard to think of anything but the present moment of pain.
4 Traps to Avoid When You Suffer
Paul David Tripp
How we respond to suffering shapes our experiences with suffering.
How Suffering Reveals Your True Self
Paul David Tripp
When the thing you have been trusting is laid to waste, you don’t suffer just the loss of that thing; you also suffer the loss of the identity and security that it provided.
4 Things Dads Should Teach Their Kids about Money
Paul David Tripp
Your kids need more than practical tips for managing their money. They need theology.
The Duality of Money’s Power
Paul David Tripp
Money will either bless you or curse you. It will be a tool in the hands of a God of grace, or it will be a doorway to bad and dangerous things.
How Is Love of Money a Root of Evil?
Paul David Tripp
The root system of the love of money runs deeper and wider through the soil of the human heart than we tend to think.
10 Things You Should Know about Money
Paul David Tripp
Money is an accurate window on what is truly important to us.
A Diagnosis of Our Culture's View of Sexuality
Paul David Tripp
We've lost the ability to talk about sex and gender, asking sex to be what it was never meant to be.
The Best News Ever for Our Sexual Struggles
Paul David Tripp
What does God give us to face our inevitable struggles and sufferings? The resoundingly glorious answer of Romans 8 is that he gives us the only thing that can truly provide the rescue, wisdom, and strength we need.
A Message to the Christian Battling Sexual Sin
Paul David Tripp
We can't blame our environment for our struggles. The root of our wrong thinking about sex is not cultural, it's our own hearts.
You Can Trust God's Design for Sex
Paul David Tripp
The essence of obedience is not simply doing the right stuff. Rather, the essence of obedience is the heart, and what must live in the heart of the obedient person is a willing submission to God’s authority.
10 Things You Should Know about Sex
Paul David Tripp
God created and has good purposes for sex in the context of marriage, and we don't always view it rightly.
5 Myths about Marriage
Paul David Tripp
People are susceptible to believing all sorts of misconceptions about the purposes and practices of marriage.
Are You Far from God This Christmas?
Paul David Tripp
The Christmas story is a story of God making himself available, making himself near. And, so it's a story for everyone who feels distant from God.
A Word to Those Who Are Lonely This Christmas
Paul David Tripp
Human beings weren't created to be lonely. We were created for intimate relationship with God and intimate relationships with one another.
3 Things We Often Forget about the Christmas Story
Paul David Tripp
Three words that sum up what we’ve tended to miss about the Christmas story are sacrifice, honesty, and glory.
How Not to Share the Gospel at Christmas
Paul David Tripp
Christmas is a wonderful opportunity to share the hope of Christ with people in your life—both in word and deed.
Beware the Idol of Busyness at Christmas
Paul David Tripp
We must be careful to guard the true meaning of Christmas, keeping it from becoming about busyness and bondage to creation.
How to Center Your Family on Christ During the Holidays
Paul David Tripp
How can you always point your children and family to the spiritual significance of this time of year?
4 Ways to Strengthen Your Marriage This Christmas Season
Paul David Tripp
Be intentional to focus on the gospel this Christmas. Here are some suggestions for how to do this in your marriage this year.
Start the New Year Right
Paul David Tripp
The Christian life, the church, our faith are not about us, they’re about him—his plan, his kingdom, his glory.
Give Up on Your Own Self-Righteousness
Paul David Tripp
There is a difference between a person in whom disappointment leads to self-reformation and someone in whom grief leads to heartfelt confession. We often confuse the two.
5 Questions That Steal or Seal Your Hope
Paul David Tripp
It is quite clear that your view of God will inescapably shape your perspective on your circumstances. In this way your theology is like a lens through which you examine life.
2 Responses to the World's Brokenness
Paul David Tripp
If you mourn the fallenness of your world rather than curse its difficulties, you know that grace has visited you
God's Invading Grace
Paul David Tripp
Why did Jesus send his disciples into that storm? He did it for the same reason he sometimes sends you into storms—because he knows that sometimes you need the storm in order to be able to see the glory.
The Key to Contentment
Paul David Tripp
There is no doubt about it—the Bible is a big-picture book that calls us to big-picture living.
Why We Desperately Need the Body of Christ
Paul David Tripp
Why do I need the daily intervention of the body of Christ? The answer is as simple as it is humbling.
Should I Try to Be My Child's Friend?
Paul David Tripp
Your child should know without a doubt that you deeply love them, even on their worst day.
Show My Child Grace, or Lay Down the Law?
Paul David Tripp
I know my children need the awareness of God’s law, they also need the self-awareness that law gives them.
The One Thing That Makes Parenting Tough Today
Paul David Tripp
Distraction is a huge issue for the modern Christian parent.
The Key to Understanding Why Parenting Is Hard
Paul David Tripp
The Bible is incredibly helpful in leading us to understand why parenting is so challenging.
6 Truths about Parenting That Reorient Everything
Paul David Tripp
Paul David Tripp draws six agenda-setting observations from Psalm 51 for our work as a parents.
Why Parenting Is One of the Most Significant Callings
Paul David Tripp
Nothing is more important in your life than being one of God’s tools to form a human soul.
Why Every Parent Should Embrace Their Inability
Paul David Tripp
It is vital that you believe and admit that you have no power whatsoever to change your child.
3 Things to Remember about Your (Imperfect) Marriage
Paul David Tripp
What are the essential wisdom perspectives that Scripture gives us that enable us to have realistic expectations for our marriage?
How Psalm 145 Saved My Ministry
Paul David Tripp
I can’t tell you how many times in my early days of ministry I questioned if God had really called me into pastoral ministry.
Take Your Life Off Your Shoulders
Paul David Tripp
God not only forgives your sins and guarantees you a seat in eternity, but welcomes you to a radically new way of living.
Prepare Your Heart for Thanksgiving with Paul Tripp
Paul David Tripp
Contentment celebrates grace. The contented heart is satisfied with the Giver and is therefore freed from craving the next gift.
Pastor, Are You Humble?
Paul David Tripp
You must be willing to do whatever is necessary to position yourself as a tool of redeeming grace.
Reading God's Word When You Don't Want To
Paul David Tripp
Pick God’s Word up not with the burden of guilt or as a call to duty, but because it’s a gift given to you by a God of amazingly tender mercy and grace.
Marriages are Built or Destroyed Moment by Moment
Paul David Tripp
If you are a sinner married to a sinner, then it is very dangerous to allow yourself to coast as a couple.
The Problem of "Kingdom" in Our Marriages
Paul David Tripp
We are drawn to order, predictability, comfort, ease, pleasure, appreciation, fun, and personal happiness. We don’t like difficulty of any kind.