Category: Book 2 Chapter 14

One of the greatest benefits of our forgiveness of another person is that it can open the door for that person to become a Christian.  Not only can forgiveness influence others and even soften their hearts.  It also has the effect of prompting God to …

Possibly one of the stupidest lines ever spoken in a film was in ‘Love Story’ where one character says “Love is never needing to say you’re sorry”.  On thecontrary, love means regularly having to say you’re sorry.  However, the reverse side of the coin is …

Some people struggle with bitterness towards a parent who has wronged them, perhaps long ago.  The wounds from that can be especially deep, because a parent has a unique position, from which they can do terrible harm.  Thankfully, I have no personal experience of any …

We alluded to this earlier, but it is worth elaborating on.  We are not under any duty to trust the person whom we have forgiven.  To be wary of that person, or even to directly expect them to wrong you again, or to lie to …

We are commanded to pray for the people who do us harm and abuse us: 14Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Romans 12:14 (NASB) There have been many people who have done me harm over the years.  To the best of …

Let’s change the subject now and consider how you should act if you are, yourself, in a position of authority as a manager, or as the proprietor of a business.  What if you have staff who have done wrong and need to be disciplined or …

The thing which Paul prohibited in 1 Corinthians 6 was civil litigation against fellow Christians. He wasn’t speaking about how we should deal with criminal offences i.e. where a Christian has committed a crime and another Christian is a witness or the injured party.  This …

As we saw earlier, apostle Paul made a powerful statement about this in his first letter to the Corinthians.  On the face of it, what he says seems quite clear and conclusive: 1 When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare …

After the futile experience of trying to address issues within the first church, both my wife and I were traumatized, and far more so than we realised at the time.  Moreover, the sense of violation and trauma lasted for at least three years, and probably …

A wronged believer might seek to carry out Jesus’ commands, but he will not get very far.  The structure of most churches will not allow him to do what Jesus said.  Even if he tried it, he would be thwarted by the system itself and …