:-x
Welcome to a place where Christ should be exalted and "Self" should be abased!!
Welcome to a place where the BIBLE can be discussed rationally, intelligently, and positively without unnecessary argument!!
Welcome to a place where prayer can be requested and encouraged!!
Welcome to a place where positive and encouraging thoughts from scripture can be shared in a caring and loving way!!
Welcome to a place away from all the arguments, recriminations, and negativity of the outside world!!
Welcome to a place of rest and safety!!
Welcome to a place where Philippians 2:3 is practiced: "Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves."
Welcome to this Christian thread.
(Please leave all aggression, bitterness, and philosophy outside the door and please wipe your feet before coming inside!!)
I live in my own little world. But it's OK... They know me Here!
Welcome to a place where the BIBLE can be discussed rationally, intelligently, and positively without unnecessary argument!!
Welcome to a place where prayer can be requested and encouraged!!
Welcome to a place where positive and encouraging thoughts from scripture can be shared in a caring and loving way!!
Welcome to a place away from all the arguments, recriminations, and negativity of the outside world!!
Welcome to a place of rest and safety!!
Welcome to a place where Philippians 2:3 is practiced: "Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves."
Welcome to this Christian thread.
(Please leave all aggression, bitterness, and philosophy outside the door and please wipe your feet before coming inside!!)
I live in my own little world. But it's OK... They know me Here!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ((((NIKKI'S DH))))!!!!!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂
I'm sure I don't have to tell you that you have already received the greatest gift of all! *winks & smiles at Nikki*
--- Remember: You don't stop laughing because you grow old...you grow old because you stop laughing. 🙂
I'm sure I don't have to tell you that you have already received the greatest gift of all! *winks & smiles at Nikki*
--- Remember: You don't stop laughing because you grow old...you grow old because you stop laughing. 🙂
Hi nikki. Nice to see you popping by.
I can understand your struggle with the forgiveness of some one like Bin Laden. I too struggled with it also. But over time I found my thoughts in this area were not healthy. It was when I began to try and look at it from God's perspective that I began to see that God loves him as much as He loves me. Also what really helped me was when I realized that same amount of blood was shed at Calvary for Bin Laden as was shed for me. No more and no less. God does not approve of the wrongs that Bin Laden has done , no more then the sins I have done. BUT !!! God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Spon, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but hath everlasting life. And we also learn from His word that ...it is not the will of God that any should perish but that all come to everlasting life....
(((TOB))) What a wonderful post. Thank you so much. What a beautiful gospel message there is in that post.
Nikki by the way happy birthday tomorrow to hubby.
I can understand your struggle with the forgiveness of some one like Bin Laden. I too struggled with it also. But over time I found my thoughts in this area were not healthy. It was when I began to try and look at it from God's perspective that I began to see that God loves him as much as He loves me. Also what really helped me was when I realized that same amount of blood was shed at Calvary for Bin Laden as was shed for me. No more and no less. God does not approve of the wrongs that Bin Laden has done , no more then the sins I have done. BUT !!! God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Spon, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but hath everlasting life. And we also learn from His word that ...it is not the will of God that any should perish but that all come to everlasting life....
(((TOB))) What a wonderful post. Thank you so much. What a beautiful gospel message there is in that post.
Nikki by the way happy birthday tomorrow to hubby.
Oh nikki I did not know you had such a close connection to 9/11. (((((hugs)))).
There are some thoughts in my mind I would like to share with you but I am going to sleep on them and seek guidence from above before posting. maybe in the morning.
There are some thoughts in my mind I would like to share with you but I am going to sleep on them and seek guidence from above before posting. maybe in the morning.
One tool I have learned that helps me towards forgiveness is to try to understand where the other person was coming from when they committed the offence. This does NOT make what they did acceptable but it does help us to understand why the action was committeed.
Taking 9/11 as an example is difficult but it can still be used. For example, you have to consider where the terrorists were born, what kind of lives they've had (poverty, violence), what their upbringing was, what ideas they have absorbed from the culture and/or religion they grew up in. Some children have never lived anywhere else but in a war-torn country and so have become immune to violence. In some instances, violence is often cheered as it is considered a sign of true manhood. In many countries, children are taught to hate a certain group of people from their very earliest years and this continues throughout their lives (as in Ireland, for example). If those children then grow up with their hatred intact, never having been exposed to another point of view while they were still young enough to accept it, then it explains how all this could lead to such a tragedy as 9/11.
When it pertains to rapists, pedophiles and serial killers, a lot of these people have had really traumatic childhoods and were exposed to things that their young minds just couldn't comprehend and so they've become truly broken human beings. Others have been so badly abused that they carry a rage inside them that will most probably be there for life. Always remember that what looks like the "perfect family" from the outside can be very different when you're looking at it from the inside. No one really know what goes on behind closed doors.
All this to say that sometimes it's harder to forgive when you don't know all the facts. I don't know if that's useful to any of you but that's helped me a great deal in my struggle to forgive.
Taking 9/11 as an example is difficult but it can still be used. For example, you have to consider where the terrorists were born, what kind of lives they've had (poverty, violence), what their upbringing was, what ideas they have absorbed from the culture and/or religion they grew up in. Some children have never lived anywhere else but in a war-torn country and so have become immune to violence. In some instances, violence is often cheered as it is considered a sign of true manhood. In many countries, children are taught to hate a certain group of people from their very earliest years and this continues throughout their lives (as in Ireland, for example). If those children then grow up with their hatred intact, never having been exposed to another point of view while they were still young enough to accept it, then it explains how all this could lead to such a tragedy as 9/11.
When it pertains to rapists, pedophiles and serial killers, a lot of these people have had really traumatic childhoods and were exposed to things that their young minds just couldn't comprehend and so they've become truly broken human beings. Others have been so badly abused that they carry a rage inside them that will most probably be there for life. Always remember that what looks like the "perfect family" from the outside can be very different when you're looking at it from the inside. No one really know what goes on behind closed doors.
All this to say that sometimes it's harder to forgive when you don't know all the facts. I don't know if that's useful to any of you but that's helped me a great deal in my struggle to forgive.
TOB...your article from Dr. Rutley is bang on! Thank you for posting it! Forgiveness does not mean you have to forget - I like that.
Lucie...so true. Consider the source - very appropos.
--- Remember: You don't stop laughing because you grow old...you grow old because you stop laughing. 🙂
Lucie...so true. Consider the source - very appropos.
--- Remember: You don't stop laughing because you grow old...you grow old because you stop laughing. 🙂
(((NIKKI))) You are not alone in this kind of struggle. The Bible is full of illustrations re: the struggle to forgive. Because of 9/11, your DH's heart is broken in a way very few of us will ever know or understand, and I'm sure your anger is based on how it has changed him...and this is understandably humanly so. The struggle is more between what is human and what is divine...and we ALL struggle with both. Doing the divine is a very difficult thing as it is in direct conflict with our humanness. We embrace anger and an unforgiving spirit because we feel humanly justified in doing so. We fear letting go, as we erroneously think that in doing so, we give the power back to the enemy when, in fact, doing so defeats the enemy.
"For ALL have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23). God knows we struggle. He knows all about struggle. Jesus himself, in the garden of Gethsemane, asked God to "take this cup away from me". He felt fear. God knows how we sometimes fear His will. But Jesus's blood sacrifice taught us that giving into God's will for us is the best thing we can do for all concerned.
For too many years, I held onto the anger toward my father and his abuse. Though I will never forget, I do forgive. Looking back now, I can't remember why I held the anger for so long when the freedom and peace that has come from forgiveness has been like being released from chains. "His grace is sufficient for us, for His power is made perfect in weakness." (2 Cor. 12:9)
--- Remember: You don't stop laughing because you grow old...you grow old because you stop laughing. 🙂
"For ALL have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23). God knows we struggle. He knows all about struggle. Jesus himself, in the garden of Gethsemane, asked God to "take this cup away from me". He felt fear. God knows how we sometimes fear His will. But Jesus's blood sacrifice taught us that giving into God's will for us is the best thing we can do for all concerned.
For too many years, I held onto the anger toward my father and his abuse. Though I will never forget, I do forgive. Looking back now, I can't remember why I held the anger for so long when the freedom and peace that has come from forgiveness has been like being released from chains. "His grace is sufficient for us, for His power is made perfect in weakness." (2 Cor. 12:9)
--- Remember: You don't stop laughing because you grow old...you grow old because you stop laughing. 🙂
There are times in life when an atrocity that has been committed against us is so hurtful, and the resulting anger is so great, that we have to make the decision to forgive again and again, over and over, sometimes on a daily basis. Sometimes, the only prayer we can say is: "Dear God, I can't seem to forgive and I don't want to forgive ..... but I know that you would want me to so please do what it takes to change my heart so that I can. I can't do this without your help so I place the situation in your hands." There are times when you will have to say this prayer every day, sometimes for years, until you can finally find peace & let it go.
G'mornin', Shirley! :)
--- Remember: You don't stop laughing because you grow old...you grow old because you stop laughing. 🙂
--- Remember: You don't stop laughing because you grow old...you grow old because you stop laughing. 🙂
Hi Julie.......couldn't find this thread this morning, so I had to work "really" hard to get it to the first page!!!! :^O
:^O
Ya done good thar, gal!
--- Remember: You don't stop laughing because you grow old...you grow old because you stop laughing. 🙂
Ya done good thar, gal!
--- Remember: You don't stop laughing because you grow old...you grow old because you stop laughing. 🙂
