Guiding Children

Children, Parenting 0

Every child will try out an unhappy approach to life from time to time.  We must be wise and not let this go too far.  Don’t react impulsively; act from your quiet knowledge of this child.  You are the advocate for his inner strength.  You step in and say no because you see that now he can do better.  From your intuition and calm perception, you see that he has learned all he can from the mistake and now can use a firm hand to guide him.

— Hugh Prather, Spiritual Notes to Myself, p. 64

Literature and Life

Life, Trials 0

There is no story without conflict, I tell would-be story writers.  Universal truth is ratified, in literature as in life, not through a character’s mere mindless affirmations of it but through the lifelong study that comes from doubting and challenging and searching and returning to the problem again and again.

— Patty Kirk, Confessions of an Amateur Believer, p. 73

A Choice

Forgiveness, Healing 0

When we get hurt, no matter how serious the offense or how deep the wound, God has grace available to help us deal with the offense and forgive the offender.  At that point, we have one of two choices:  We can acknowledge our need and humbly reach out to Him for His grace to forgive and release the offender.  Or we can resist Him, fail to receive His grace, and hold on to the hurt.

— Nancy Leigh DeMoss, Choosing Forgiveness, p. 75

Like Drinking Poison

Forgiveness 0

Like drinking poison and hoping someone else would die.  That’s a powerful word picture for what unforgiveness is like in the human heart.  Though it may feel right, though it may seem justified, though it may appear to be the only option available to us, it is destructive and deadly to the one who drinks it.  The very weapon we use to inflict pain on our offender becomes a sword turned inward on ourselves, doing far more damage to us — and to those who love us — than to those who have hurt us.

— Nancy Leigh DeMoss, Choosing Forgiveness:  Your Journey to Freedom, p. 50-51

Freedom in Forgiveness

Forgiveness, Healing 0

When we as God’s children realize that His grace is sufficient for every situation, that by the power of His indwelling Spirit we have the ability to respond with grace and forgiveness to those who have sinned against us — at that point we are no longer victims.  We are free to rise above whatever may have been done to us, to grow through it, and to become instruments of grace, reconciliation, and redemption in the lives of other hurting people and even in the lives of our offenders.

Yes, we can be free — if we choose to be.

— Nancy Leigh DeMoss, Choosing Forgiveness, p. 42

Truth

Core Value, Relationships, Truth 0

Sometimes, you have to ask yourself what you really think, and go with that deep perception.  If you find out you’re wrong, admit it and correct your error.  If you find out you were right, congratulate yourself and move on.  Either way, your starting point needs to be your sense of what’s true, not your gaslighter’s.  If you’ve idealized your gaslighter and want to think well of him, you may be tempted to substitute his version of events for yours.  But don’t.  That’s how you start dancing the Gaslight Tango.

— Dr. Robin Stern, The Gaslight Effect, p. 174

Let me sow love.

Forgiveness, Love 0

You need to realize that when you sow the love of God, you will reap the love of God.  You need to develop faith in this spiritual law — even though you may not harvest it from the field in which you sowed, or as quickly as you would like.

— John Bevere, The Bait of Satan:  Living Free from the Deadly Trap of Offense, p. 14-15