Allowing Others Their Rights Setting boundaries and establishing mutual basic rights in relationships becomes challenging when we confuse our “rights” to protect our own life with the “right” to control another person’s behavior. While learning to embrace our rights can be a welcome relief, the challenge is that we must allow others the very same […]
Personal Rights Versus Relational Responsibilities In attempting to establish boundaries in our lives, we must consider two basic areas: Our God-given rights as human beings. Responsibilities. Our responsibilities in relationships versus those of God and of others. One of the saddest misconceptions is that being a Christian means every single right is stripped from us, […]
“Seldom set your foot in your neighbors’ house – too much of you, and they will come to hate you” Proverbs 25:17 NIV Turn Walls of Fear into Healthy Boundaries As we embrace our authentic identity, we learn to value ourselves in God’s eyes. We no longer desire to engage in the same unhealthy patterns […]
A Process for Applying Forgiveness Talking about forgiving people is one thing. But facing those sins on an individual basis – and fully connecting with the emotions, the damage, and the consequences – is entirely different. Most of us inappropriately deal with the way others have hurt us. We don’t understand the significance or the […]
“Make allowance for each other’s faults and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others” Colossians 3:13 NLT Introduction The biggest miracle we will ever experience is receiving God’s forgiveness and entering into a relationship with Him based on His grace, not our efforts. From there the Christian […]
Identifying False Guilt While we may have legitimate sin issues in our lives that Satan plays on, sometimes we experience false guilt. False guilt is based entirely on a lie. It tells us we are to blame for something that was not our fault or that we played no part in. When we allow false […]
While we may have legitimate sin issues in our lives that Satan plays on, sometimes we experience false guilt. False guilt is based entirely on a lie. It tells us we are to blame for something that was not our fault or that we played no part in. When we allow false guilt into our […]
Unworthiness We can be bound by a sense of guilt, shame, and condemnation that seems to justify why we believe we can’t be forgiven (or why we shouldn’t forgive ourselves). We need to come to understand that the very essence of forgiveness is that it is unmerited and undeserved. Although it may be difficult, we […]
Abused? Or Abuser? Two people participate in acts of violation: a victim (the abused) and a perpetrator (the abuser). The Victim The person on the receiving end of abusive behaviors is the victim. The victim is prone to be captured by the message the actual abuse sends. Essentially, in being the recipient of an act […]
We must learn we can’t judge ourselves in accordance with the standards of self or others. We need to judge ourselves by the standards of Christ. In 2 Corinthians 10:12 (NLT), Paul says this: “Oh, don’t worry; we wouldn’t dare say that we are as wonderful as these other men who tell you how important […]