testimony Archives : Life with the King

October 23, 2026October 23, 2026

3 (More) Ways to Help Someone Struggling with Faith

When I wrote 10 Ways to Help Someone Struggling with Faith, it was 2019. It was about four years after my hardest season of struggling with faith had ended. I started this blog to help people who struggle with faith to feel less alone, and that early blog post remains one of the most-read posts. We want to help those around us, but we don’t always know how. We can’t always relate to someone else’s struggle, because each of our journeys is unique. But as someone who’s been there as far as losing faith and finding it again, I wanted to help bridge the gap between people who struggle with their faith, and their loved ones. And I still do.

Before we get into the 3 ways to help further, I want to acknowledge that a person who has reached a point where they are questioning faith, a foundational component of identity and life, means that they are desperate. Desperate for change. Desperate for authenticity and Truth. This has led them to a place of questioning what is True in their lives, which a very difficult thing for a human being to do. It is much more common and more comfortable not to question the things we can’t reconcile. People who struggle with questions of faith are extremely courageous. They are facing the fear that they might have gotten things very wrong. They are willing to do the hard work of seeking out the Truth, despite what they might find out about themselves or others along the way. We thank God for these Truth-seekers in our lives! Those who choose to go through fire for the Truth can be some of the most refined.

1. Don’t Give Up on Connection

Connection is one of the most healing things there is. God made us to connect with Him and with other people. He designed us to be loved, supported, and encouraged by those we share connections with, aka people in our community. Our community can be our neighbors, coworkers, friends, church community, and family. When a person is struggling with their faith, those connections can feel especially difficult to maintain. They simply cannot relate in the ways they did before.

If you are a safe person to someone in a faith struggle, you may hear things from them you never expected to hear. You may hear things that are sad, surprising, or existential. Without a common foundation of understanding, these are very hard things to connect with another person about. It makes sense that it’s tough to connect. But please don’t give up.

To someone struggling with faith, they likely feel that their identity is in flux. This is why this struggle can lead to people pulling away from those in their communities. It’s likely not because they want to break a relational connection, it is more plausible that they don’t want to ruin a connection because they can’t act or speak in the same ways they once did with you. It is nearly impossible to be undergoing inner world changes while simultaneously following the norms of conversation. Nothing feels normal anymore to someone struggling. Questions of faith can’t be resolved in one sitting or one conversation. Anyone in relationship with someone going through these types of questions will need to be patient.

Connecting with someone is the last thing they probably feel they can do, yet it can be one of the most reassuring and helpful things for their heart. You don’t have to understand everything they are thinking about, you just need to be a constant, loving presence that won’t give up on them, and isn’t scared of what they are going through. Their faith journey is normal and healthy and is for a purpose, and you can help remind them of that when their world seems to be spinning out of their control. To open the possibility up to connect, the most important thing is to make sure they know you aren’t going anywhere.

2. Share Your Testimony of Faith

To truly connect with someone, that person needs to know where you’re coming from. The worst thing you can do when you want to help someone in a faith crisis is to hide where you stand when it comes to your own faith. The best way to let them know where you stand is to share your story. Why do you believe what you believe about God? What makes you solid in your faith? Hearing someone share how certain and unwavering they were in their convictions about how God moves, and hearing them state the Biblical Truths that they stand firm on made a big impact with me when I was struggling with faith. I became curious how they were so certain, what made quoting the Bible so easy for them, how they seemed to be so calm in their spirit about the things I was not calm about. It made me press deeper into what was actually True. Truth is what people need when they are in this state, and oftentimes, they need to find it for themselves. But our testimonies can point them towards Jesus. Our own faith can encourage and inspire other people, even when it doesn’t seem apparent that they trust or believe us at first. The Holy Spirit is faithful to work in people’s hearts, and can use your story and your life to testify of His love and Truth. We are called to share our stories in love, with prayer and discernment as to the right timing and circumstances.

3. Bring Them Around People Who Love God

When I was struggling, I was brought into a church worship service where the room was full of people lifting all their love to God, and God’s love was palpable as it poured back in turn on the room. It was an amazingly beautiful experience that I still think of often. I could not deny that God’s love was in that room, or that He was completely real and True to those people worshiping Him that day. Being in a room of people who love and adore the Lord, better yet, who are authentically worshiping joyfully, is one of the most confronting things a person struggling with faith can see. When our faith runs out, sometimes we just need something we can see. It can eventually bring clarity to the confusion.

To recap, three (more) ways we can help someone struggling are to never give up on them and make sure they know we will always be there for them, share our faith, and make faith visible in a way that doesn’t require their response. Surround them with love, and pray for guidance to the unique ways that you can connect with and share with that person in the love of Christ for them.

The focus must always be on God, not on them; or on us. May we let the story God is writing speak.

To God be all the glory! Amen.

“The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged‘” (Deuteronomy 31:8).

Thank you for spending some of your time journeying with me. If you haven’t yet, please subscribe to Life with the King, and follow the Facebook page; it truly helps me continue writing this blog. Grace and peace.

September 3, 2026September 3, 2026

6 Ways to Walk in Love

When I put my faith in Jesus, humbled by His love for me, my life became His. No longer my own, I willingly came under His authority and will. Responding to the love of Jesus naturally results in the desire to obey His commands because we know that they are what’s best for us and for others. He commands His followers to walk in His love: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35). It is God’s will that we love one another; in love, amazing things can happen.

Paul wrote, “And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Ephesians 5:2). What does it mean to walk in God’s love? According to Scripture, walking in love involves both avoiding pitfalls and taking some particular actions. Please note that faith is not based on actions or works (Ephesians 2:8); that is not where I’m coming from with this blog, friends. Scripture gives us specific examples, which I find to be helpful guardrails for everyday life; we have these reference points to correct course if and when needed. While I can’t provide a comprehensive list of Scripture’s examples of walking in love today, I’ll name a few.

Walking in Love: Things to Avoid

Do not speak about sexual immorality or impurity or covetousness (Ephesians 5:3). In Ephesians 5, which speaks to walking in God’s light, Paul calls these things improper, out of place, and taking part in darkness. To speak of these things does not honor Jesus Christ or the place we have as children of God, and as those who inherit His Kingdom. It is not conducive to being a saint, being wise, being thankful, or being people who understand God’s will, filled with the Spirit. “The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light” (Romans 13:12).
Do not participate in drunkenness (Romans 13:13). Drunkenness is not conducive to walking properly (no pun intended), as in the light of Christ.
Do not participate in quarreling or jealousy (Romans 13:13). Quarreling and jealousy do not make it easier to love people, but can make it much more difficult to do what is best, not only for the other person but also for ourselves. Being jealous of someone else is indicative of taking our eyes off of Jesus, because we want something that is apart from Him and the way He uniquely made us. Paul went so far as to say that coveting (wanting something to an excess that is not ours), is a form of idolatry (Ephesians 5:5).

If I find myself edging closer to any of these things, it is a warning sign for me, that I have taken my focus off of God, and am not walking in love or in the light of Christ. These things are not reasons to self-condemn or live in shame (Romans 8:1), but can be helpful signposts to point us back to Jesus, and to surrender our focus and attention to Him. They are signals to confess the darkness and bring us back to walking in the path of His light.

Walking in Love: Things to Do

2 John chapter 1 names specific evidence of walking in love:

Love one another (verse 5). As in the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37), loving others means having compassion on people, no matter if they are considered a friend, neighbor, or enemy. Loving others means having mercy toward them, even when it is not convenient or cost-effective for us. This is something that Jesus did perfectly; we have His life to look to as our best example of what it looks like to live a life of loving others.
Confessing the coming of Jesus Christ (verse 7). Acknowledging that Jesus is God the Son, who came in human form with a physical body, in other words, that Jesus is both fully deity and fully human, is important in walking in love. In every age there will be deception and deceivers spreading lies about the deity and/or humanity of Jesus. Walking in love is not to be deceived about who Jesus is (and thus taking our focus off of the Truth); in His love, our spirit confesses that Jesus is exactly who He said He is.
Abide in the teaching of Jesus Christ (verse 9). I have written a bit about this before in Abide in His Love. Abiding in Jesus stems out of the personal relationship Jesus longs to have with each one of us. He wants us to know Him, trust Him, and love Him, and in turn, He gives us the light of life. He even promises “a full reward” (2 John 1:8) to those who love others, walk in His commandments, and abide in His teachings (Matthew 22:36-39).

Focusing on Jesus involves focusing on the things He commands us to do, and on His character. The more we know Him, the more we love Him. The more we love Him, the more we recognize how much He loves us, and how much love He gives us every single day. As we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to abide in His love and obey His commands, may we love God with all we are.

May we remember that Jesus has already and continues to give us more than enough to walk in His love. Amen.

“‘Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?’ And he [Jesus] said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. . . .'” (Matthew 22:36-39).

“And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray.And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:10-14).

February 5, 2026February 5, 2026

More than Conquerors

Have you ever found it wild that God has already told us the end of the story? Each of our lives is an amazing story and testimony in and of itself, and all are part of God’s story, but have you considered that the ending to that story has been completely spoiled?

Spoiler alert: Jesus conquers the enemy of our souls.

We feel the effects of the enemy in our world today, and Jesus warned that “the love of many will grow cold” (Matthew 24:12). We constantly encounter darkness and see the great need for it to be defeated, both in the world and in our own hearts. Try as we might, we as people don’t have the capacity to defeat the enemy on our own. We need Jesus. In the prophetic Book of Revelation, John writes, “And one of the elders said to me, ‘Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals’” (Revelation 5:5). In the end, Jesus conquers! And not only that, but He allows us to share in that victory.

What’s fascinating to me is that Jesus refers to those who believe in Him as conquerors as well, later in Revelation: “And he said to me, ‘It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son” (Revelation 21:6-7). Not only do we share in Jesus’ victory, but we are welcomed into His family. What is His becomes ours too. Best. Ending. Ever.

So what do we do now, in the middle of the story, when Jesus has yet to come again? How do we look ahead to Jesus’ victory and rely on His sacrifice and victory over death? One of my favorite verses in Revelation says, “And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death” (Revelation 12:11). We can conquer even now over the enemy by relying on Jesus’ blood sacrifice to cover our sin, and also by unashamedly, courageously, and passionately telling our stories about His work in our own lives.

The good news is that even with the love in the world growing cold, and with darkness seemingly closing in, we don’t have to let it defeat us in the here and now. The story has been spoiled for us in the best possible way! I believe the story was spoiled to give us hope in the fact that the future for us is free and victorious in Jesus. Not only that, Jesus walks with us through every single green pasture AND valley along the way until that time. Even now, we are able to share in His victory already had and the victory yet to come.

May we walk in our identity as more than conquerors with Christ, and share “the word of our testimony” in the spirit of God’s love. May we encourage others as we all walk out our stories toward the best ending ever written. Amen.

“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Romans 8:37).

“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death’” (Revelation 2:11).

Thank you for spending some of your time journeying with me. If you haven’t yet, please subscribe to Life with the King, and like & follow the Facebook page; it truly helps me continue writing this blog. Grace and peace.