Fresh Start/Forgiveness
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Becoming a Different Person
There's a man I know very well who for years had a real anger problem. He would explode at his family, friends, he'd nurse a grudge. When angry, he could weave a tapestry of profanity that was amazing. It was an art form for him. I remember once being at his house for dinner and his three year old son was refusing to eat lasagna. The son kept saying, `I don't like dirty noodles` ''because of the sauce''. `Get the sauce off.` I remember this man turning purple with rage, saying, `I am not a noodle cleaner.` Well, he recognized that this anger thing was poisoning his life, giving him all kinds of stress, wrecking his relationships. Along the way he got hooked up with a great church, ended up in a Bible study with the pastor, which I know probably sounds awful to most of you, but he liked it, and that's the point. He started to engage with God at a heart level in worship, and really experience God's love and God's blessing, and then he learned some creative, little steps of discipline, to handle his anger, not suppress it but address it, and how to resolve conflict in healthy ways. He followed those little steps of discipline and the power of the Holy Spirit in his life. Through those things he is dramatically different, it is night and day. He's calmer, he addresses conflict in healthy ways, hasn't turned purple in years. He is being transformed from the inside out. It's not that he's just suppressing anger; he's a different person.



By: Scott Dudley
Category: Fresh Start/Forgiveness
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Comment Helpful? Favorite Violation

"Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.' Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance." ( Luke 15:4-7)

"Everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the Son has a place there forever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed." ( John 8:34-36)

"Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.' Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." ( Luke 15:8-10)

"Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses." ( Mark 11:25)

"For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." ( Matthew 6:14-15)

"Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put in to your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back." ( Luke 6:37-38)

"I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in the darkness." ( John 12:46)


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