1. Matthew 7:7-8. This is one that reminds me that everybody needs help at times and that it’s not shameful or bad to ask for help in a proactive or assertive way.

2. Matthew 7:25. This helps me with my unbelief.

3. Psalm 98.

4. Luke 18:10-14. Partly because these verses have been set to a particularly beautiful baritone solo, but partly because I need the parable to remind me that I don’t need to keep score of my good deeds to make me a good person.

5. Psalm 121.

6. Isaiah 40. I always hear the Messiah in my head when I read this chapter.

7. Romans 5:1-11. I find this passage very reassuring at times.

8. Micah 6:8.

1 Corinthians 2:2 — “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” Reminds me to keep my eyes and my heart on Jesus and not get bogged down in theological divisions.

Ecclesiastes 9:10 — “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might”. This one helps me keep the faith to see a project through, even when I worry that I’ve misunderstood God’s mission for me. God will not constantly reassure me that this iproject is the correct use of my limited lifespan. Letting go of worries that I made the “wrong” choice is one way I try to live by grace instead of under the Law.

Matthew 11:28-30 — Another corrective to legalism, also the most sublime passage in Handel’s “Messiah”. “For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Philippians 1:6 — “he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus”. I WILL finish my novel

Corinthians 1: 7-12+

Our large clan looks like the UN body.