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I believe that one of the most effective tricks Satan plays on Christians is to convince us that our sins aren't really forgiven.Psalm 103:12 says “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”One of Satan’s biggest tools is to constantly remind us of our past failures, and he uses those to make us think that God couldn't possibly forgive us. This can make it really hard for us to simply rest in the promises of God and trust His love.1 John 1:9: “If we c …

Living without grumbling or disputing (Phil 2:14) makes a person "blameless and innocent."Being blameless is a goal for believers, in general, and a goal, especially, for church leaders (1 Tim 3:2).Spiritually speaking, this is not a reference to sin or morality, but whether or not a person can be rightfully criticized by other people.The goal of not grumbling or disputing is not to boast, but rather to live in a way explicitly different from the depraved world we find ourselves in. All true bel …

If someone tells you they can heal your wounds, they are manipulating you. People can stop hurting us but they can’t fix the hurt they caused.Them loving you makes it easier for you to love -- but whether they love you or not -- if you love, you find healing.Being loved doesn’t heal anyone! Only loving does that and if anyone tells you loving yourself will heal you, please run for your life. It’s a trap!No Jesus no love. Know Jesus, know love!I remembered when I first started teaching on the “Th …

I used to fight to forgive myself, but then I thought about how I feel about the person that hurt me forgiving themselves, and nothing about that made sense. The truth is, we have no power to forgive ourselves. The only power we have is to repent and forgive others. The beauty and the miracle is that God forgives us. Then our responsibility becomes accepting His forgiveness so we can move forward living a loving life. So His forgiveness in our lives is not in vain, and so His sacrifice on the cr …

Forgiving is the best thing we can do for ourself, but if we do it for ourself, it’s not forgiveness it’s selfishness. We should forgive because we are forgiven. It’s not suggesting what someone did was ok, that it didn’t hurt us, that it doesn’t still hurt us, or that it would be ok if they did it again. It’s just a decision to say, despite the hurt you caused me, I still want what is best for you. The story Jesus told of the prodigal son is a beautiful example of love and real forgiveness. Eph …

We should forgive because we are forgiven, and we should love because we are loved. Living a loving life and forgiving others truly is the best possible thing we can do for ourself, but if done for ourself it’s all in vain. It’s burned up as wood, hay and stubble. Love is for others. Love for any other reason is not love at all. It’s using love to get what we want. It’s using God for our own benefit. Forgive because you are forgiven, and love because your are loved. Even if it gains you nothing. …

If we are not careful we may think if someone takes advantage of our trust, that our trust is the problem. If we think our trust is the problem, then we will stop trusting and stop loving. This mistake will lead to destroying love in our lives. Love requires if someone is taking advantage of our trust, that we ask them “why” for their own sake. Then we have to make the toughest decision of all. We have to decide... have they truly repented. Will they truly change? If we don’t believe they will c …

The most forgiving people I have ever met are those who believe they have been forgiven of much. The truth is, we have all been forgiven of much. Forgiveness does not require feelings of forgiveness. It requires love despite our feelings. It takes loving over time to change feelings. If after being hurt we refuse to forgive, then the lack of love over time only leads to more problems. Moving forward in forgiveness is an all out fight to live a loving life. The hurt we have suffered will cost us …