Leo Tolstoy had nearly everything people associate with a successful life: literary genius, wealth, family, fame, influence, and security. Yet by his own account, he found himself deeply restless and despairing.

In this episode, Scott Sauls reflects on Tolstoy’s crisis and the three false gospels that still steal joy today: comfort, control, and approval. Each one begins as a good desire. Each one becomes destructive when we ask it to do what only Christ can do.

Comfort promises peace but often delivers numbness. Control promises safety but often delivers exhaustion. Approval promises worth but often delivers the slow disappearance of the self.

The first commandment is not merely a rule. It is a diagnosis. We were made for God, and when we build our lives on anything less than him, even the best things eventually break under the weight.

Links: The Mercy King: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/243610949-the-mercy-king?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=Ffs0dWk8OZ&rank=1 Website: http://scottsauls.com Essays: http://scottsauls.substack.com Socials: https://linktr.ee/scottsauls

You can believe in grace and still live as though God is disappointed in you.

In this episode, Scott Sauls reflects on the hidden equation many Christians carry: God’s love equals Jesus plus our current spiritual and moral performance. Through the story of Peter in Luke 5, the ache beneath achievement, and the difference between forgiveness and mercy, Scott considers why grace can feel unsafe to receive and why Jesus moves toward us when shame tells us to pull away.

For anyone who has confused usefulness with lovability, or who feels tired from trying to become enough, this episode offers a thoughtful and honest reminder: God’s mercy does not wait for us to become presentable. It meets us where we are most afraid to be known.

Links: The Mercy King: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/243610949-the-mercy-king?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=Ffs0dWk8OZ&rank=1 Website: http://scottsauls.com Essays: http://scottsauls.substack.com Socials: https://linktr.ee/scottsauls

What should you do when your prayer is not calm, composed, or polite, but angry?

In this episode, Scott Sauls looks at Habakkuk, C.S. Lewis, Job, the Psalms, and Martin Luther to explore whether anger toward God is always a sign of weak faith. Scripture is far more honest about complaint, grief, protest, and unanswered questions than many church cultures have allowed.

Angry prayer may not be the death of faith. It may be one of the clearest signs that you are still in the conversation with God. If you have ever wondered whether God can handle your honesty, this episode is for you.

Key Scriptures: Habakkuk 1:2-4, Habakkuk 2:1-4, Habakkuk 3:17-18

References: C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed; Martin Luther's prayers from 1525

LINKS: The Mercy King: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/243610949-the-mercy-king Website: http://scottsauls.com Essays: http://scottsauls.substack.com Socials: https://linktr.ee/scottsauls

In this episode, Scott Sauls reflects on John 11, the death of Lazarus, and Jesus’ stunning promise to Martha: “I am the resurrection and the life.” Drawing from Elie Wiesel’s Night, Tim Keller’s preaching after September 11, and C.S. Lewis’s The Great Divorce, this episode explores the difference between mere consolation and true Christian resurrection hope. When suffering, grief, unanswered prayer, and God’s silence threaten faith, Jesus does not offer sentimental escape. He enters our sorrow, weeps with us, and promises restoration through his cross and empty tomb.

VIDEOS: https://linktr.ee/scottsauls

In this episode, Scott Sauls explores the difference between guilt and shame through The Scarlet Letter, Genesis 3, Brené Brown, Brennan Manning, and the mercy of Jesus. Shame says, “I am something bad,” and it drives us to cover, hide, and fear being fully known. But from Eden to the cross, Scripture tells a better story: we cover ourselves badly, but God covers us truly. If you have carried a scarlet letter of your own, this episode offers a gospel-centered reminder that in Christ, you are fully known, fully loved, and no longer left hiding.

ADDITIONAL LINKS:

The Mercy King: https://tinyurl.com/3prx4wp3

Website: https://linktr.ee/scottsauls

In this episode, Scott Sauls shares personally about struggles like perfectionism, drivenness, shame, and the exhausting attempt to find worth through achievement. He also shares the invitation Jesus gives to every overextended, over-functioning heart: to stop striving for an approval that has already been freely given.

Drawing from Psalm 23, Luke 15, and themes from his newest book, The Mercy King, this episode is for anyone who has succeeded and still felt empty, failed and wondered if God was disappointed, or carried shame while struggling to receive grace.

The good news is not that we finally run hard enough toward God. It is that his goodness and mercy have been pursuing us all along.

In this episode, Scott Sauls explores why gossip can feel satisfying in the moment while quietly damaging the soul. Drawing from Scripture and personal experience, he looks at the difference between healthy processing and sinful gossip. When does venting become gossip? Why do we use another person’s failures to manage our own hurt? And how can confession, repentance, and the grace of Jesus lead us toward healing?

The path out of gossip is not merely trying harder to control the tongue. It begins with honesty, confession, and receiving the grace of God that refuses to perpetuate sins He has already forgiven.

Scriptures referenced: Proverbs 16:28; Psalm 141:3; James 3:6; James 5:16.

We all demand justice until it shows up at our own front door. In this episode, Scott Sauls works through the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector in Luke 18, the bishop and the silver candlesticks in Les Misérables, and the cross itself, drawing on Fleming Rutledge, Isaiah 53, and Psalm 130. The real question underneath every cry for fairness: are you willing to receive what justice would require of you, or would you rather be rescued by mercy?

VIDEOS:

http://youtube.com/scottsauls

ADDITIONAL INFO:

Website, Essays, Socials: http://scottsauls.com