As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
“ ‘A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones’ (Prov. 17:22). A good laugh can’t cure every illness, but it sure can make us feel better. And, in God’s kindness, this medicine is as available in bad times as well as in good.” - TGC
“…there’s a phrase in the King James Bible I was looking at recently: ‘Be of good cheer.’ In Greek, it’s just a single word (θαρσεῖτε). But as our English language has changed, Bible translations have changed to keep up with accurately communicating the sense of this word. What does it mean? How is it used?” - Brent Niedergall
“There may be a great quantity of work in your life, but if the quality is compromised then the impact of the work is limited, counterproductive, and potentially self-destructive.” - IFWE
“If I foolishly assume that I’m a good person, then I’ll arrogantly assume that I’m a deserving person. I’ll place myself in the center of my world and live with an “I deserve” attitude. Because I live with such a sense of entitlement, I’ll develop an inflated and unrealistic sense of personal need.” - Paul David Tripp
Reposted from The Cripplegate.
The Olympic Games is a dignified affair. The athletes who are selected to compete represent the most physically and mentally dedicated, talented, and trained people on the planet. The various events serve to put on display the prowess, agility, strength, and determination required to perform at such an elite level of skill mastery. Which is why it is amusing to consider some of the odder sports to have snuck onto the roster for a time, only to expose their unsuitability for Olympic attention.
“Deliberately pressing back against the circumstantial disruptors allows us to deliberately re-enter the story—with all of its beauty and wonder—that Jesus is writing within and around us.” - Cary Schmidt
“The Puritans, though serious and godly, were for the most part joyful—one of the most joyful groups of people, in fact, ever to grace the earth. Here are five kinds of joy that marked the Puritans.” - TGC
“Edwards’s theology of joy sustained him in ministry because he put joy at the center of his ministry. It’s the thread that’s woven through all of his theology.” - TGC
Read the series so far.
Elijah sits under the juniper and bemoans the failure, unfairness, and pointlessness of his years of work (1 Kings 19:10). Jonah sits under his gourd and broods over his unwanted success (and God’s unwelcome mercy!) in Nineveh (Jonah 4:1-11). Job sits among his “friends” and agonizes physically, emotionally, and spiritually (Job 2:8, 13).
Then there’s Peter. What was he doing between his denial of Jesus, with its resulting bitter regret (Matt. 26:75), and his decision to “go fishing”?
It probably involved a lot of sitting.
Read the series so far.
The humble, submissive, thankful attitudes of worship are what make any response to bitterness genuinely Christian. Honoring God with our attitudes is at the heart of why it’s worth the trouble to avoid prolonged bitterness.
But believers struggling with bitterness should also take advantage of practical wisdom. We need to be tactical as well as strategic. With that in mind, my aim here is to commend one practical response to bitterness, along with some caveats and cautions.
Simple though it is, this strategy has made a huge difference in my own life.
Discussion