Answers

Read thoughtful responses to a wide assortment of questions from Billy Graham’s My Answer column and other resources.

Every Christmas, my brother and his wife always give expensive gifts to our family, and it's always made us feel like we have to do the same for them.

Every Christmas, my brother and his wife always give expensive gifts to our family, and it's always made us feel like we have to do the same for them. But this year we don't have the money to spend that we once did. How can we tactfully suggest to them that we cut down on our gift giving this year?

My uncle says he's going to stop giving to his church because he doesn't think they ought to be spending some of their budget on churches and people in other countries.

My uncle says he's going to stop giving to his church because he doesn't think they ought to be spending some of their budget on churches and people in other countries. Is he right to think this way, or is he just being a tightwad?

Our daughter came home from college the other day and announced she'd moved in with her boyfriend.

Our daughter came home from college the other day and announced she'd moved in with her boyfriend. She knows what the Bible says about this, but she doesn't care. We didn't raise her this way and she knows we don't approve, but what can we do?

I lost both my husband and my sister this year, and Christmas just won't be the same. Is it a sin to feel this way?

It's been a hard year for me, and to be honest I'm really dreading the Christmas season. I lost both my husband and my sister this year, and Christmas just won't be the same. Is it a sin to feel this way?

You had a letter recently from someone who got addicted to painkillers after his back surgery.

You had a letter recently from someone who got addicted to painkillers after his back surgery. Well, I've done the same thing, but what's wrong with it? Why should I endure pain when I can pop a few pills and make it go away?

I've fallen in love with this man I met over the Internet. We've never actually met, but he really loves me and now he's asked me to marry him.

I've fallen in love with this man I met over the Internet. We've never actually met, but he really loves me and now he's asked me to marry him. My parents are totally against it, but how can they know how we feel? He's older than me (I'm 17, he's 34), but what difference does that make?

What is your definition of bad language?

What is your definition of bad language? My wife gets after me for some of the language I use (which she says is blasphemous), but I don't mean anything by it. Besides that, what used to be called "bad language" is so common today that no one even thinks about it, so what's the big deal?

What makes some people so critical?

I don't know what her problem is, but my oldest sister (who's almost 70 now) has hardly ever had a good word to say about anyone. What makes some people so critical? My other sisters aren't like this.

Does our holiday of Thanksgiving come from a religious event that's found in the Bible, like Christmas or Easter do?

Does our holiday of Thanksgiving come from a religious event that's found in the Bible, like Christmas or Easter do? If so, what did it originally celebrate?

My husband says it's because I have a friendly and sympathetic personality, but whatever the reason, people always seem to be coming to me with their problems.

My husband says it's because I have a friendly and sympathetic personality, but whatever the reason, people always seem to be coming to me with their problems. To be honest, I'm getting kind of tired of it, and anyway I don't really have any answers to give them. What should I do?

A friend of mine says she knows someone who can put people in touch with loved ones who've passed on. Should I pursue this?

All I ever think about is my husband, who died last year of heart disease. I'd give anything to hear from him. A friend of mine says she knows someone who can put people in touch with loved ones who've passed on. Should I pursue this?

If God knows everything, then doesn't that mean He must have known the human race was going to sin against Him? Why, then, did He even create us?

If God knows everything, then doesn't that mean He must have known the human race was going to sin against Him? Why, then, did He even create us? If I'd been God, I just wouldn't have bothered. Or maybe He didn't know what we were going to do.