Monthly Archives: October 2013

Old Wounds: Tricky or Treatable?

Posted October 28, 2013 | Judith Ingram

Scripture

Philippians 4:6-7 (New International Version)

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Consider

Our oldest wounds can be our trickiest sources of pain and confusion.

Old injuries don’t just fade away with our past and disappear. Rather, they go underground where they fester and generate emotional sore spots that can be easily bruised and re-injured.

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Book Review: Melissa

Posted October 25, 2013 | Judith Ingram

Melissa: A Father’s Lessons from a Daughter’s Suicide. By Frank Page. Forward by Mike Huckabee.

At age 32, Melissa Page Strange took her own life. She left behind a husband, two parents, two sisters, and a son in the care of his adoptive family. Four years later her father, Frank Page, a longtime pastor and leader in the Southern Baptist Convention, wrote a book about how his daughter’s death changed his life, his family, his faith, and his understanding of suffering and tragedy in the lives of the people around him.

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Shine Goodness

Posted October 21, 2013 | Judith Ingram

Scripture

Proverbs 3:27 (New International Version)

Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act.

Consider

The Message translates the above passage this way: Never walk away from someone who deserves help; your hand is God’s hand for that person.

It’s a wondrous responsibility, being God’s hand for a particular person in a particular situation. And the truth is, sometimes we don’t feel like handing out goodness, especially to people who have hurt, angered, or offended us.

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Pride That Poisons

Posted October 14, 2013 | Judith Ingram

Scripture

James 4:5-7 (New Living Translation)

What do you think the Scriptures mean when they say that the spirit God has placed within us is filled with envy? But he gives us even more grace to stand against such evil desires. As the Scriptures say, “God opposes the proud but favors the humble.” So humble yourselves before God.

Consider

Pride is a powerful enemy of healthy relationships.

Its weapon is self-deception—when pride rules us, we fail to see ourselves as we truly are. Pride blinds us to our faults and accentuates our virtues.

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Rx for A Bitter Heart, Part 4: The Cure

Posted October 11, 2013 | Judith Ingram

This is the fourth and final article on Resentment.

Living Without Resentment

To pursue a heart like Christ’s means blocking resentment at every opportunity. It means resisting the allure of nursing a grudge and alerting ourselves to all the subtle ways that bitterness can enter our hearts and put down it destructive roots.

One sure way to keep bitterness out of our hearts is to stop ourselves from taking offense in the first place. We often don’t realize that we choose how we will respond to others—whether to be angry or hurt or insulted.

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