Has someone wounded you? It may have been years
ago. It could have been a parent, could have
been a mate, maybe one of your kids, a co -worker.
But has someone hurt you very deeply, betrayed
you to the point that deep anger and bitterness
has occurred in your soul? I want to tell you
that God wants to clean the wound, heal the wound,
bandage the wound, and make you whole. That's
today. Thanks for listening to this edition of
Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. We are an
international teaching and discipleship ministry
that encourages and equips Christians to live
like Christians. In just a moment, Chip will
wrap up our series, Overcoming Emotions That
Destroy. We pray that Chip's words have challenged
you to evaluate how anger may be devastating
your life and the steps you can take to regain
control. And by the way, if you've missed any
part of this teaching, go back and listen either
at livingontheedge .org or wherever you listen
to podcasts. All right, here now is Chip with
part two of his message, How to Be Good and Mad
from Ephesians chapter four. I want to talk now
about it is so dangerous to take this weapon
of anger that he's going to tell us now how specifically
after this passage, to treat it when you've been
wounded deeply, how to clean out that wound,
how to bandage the wound, and how to get whole
so that good things can happen. And so that's
what I want to talk about now. Step one to be
good and mad is to cleanse the wound. Cleanse
the wound. Verse 31 says, get rid of all bitterness,
rage, and anger. Brawling and slander along with
every form of malice. How do you cleanse the
wound? Confession and repentance of unresolved
anger. Confession and repentance are the two
key words there of unresolved anger. Listen to
the command, get rid of. He's given us this picture.
Take off, have your mind renewed, put on. Get
rid of. All bitterness, rage, and anger, brawling,
slander, and then along with that, that desire
to hurt people, malice. The motive is you really
want to make them pay. And you got to cleanse
the wound. Now, here's the deal. In your humanness
and in my humanness, here's how I play it out.
When she really apologizes and realizes how deeply
she's hurt me, I'll forgive her. When that former
business partner that rips me off who claims
to be a Christian apologizes and tells me what
he really did and owns it. When that lady who
said those things about me at church and, you
know, we mentioned, apologizes then. And here's
what I want to say. Some of you, especially as
couples, you got to be the proactive one. Every
issue, every anger issue, every relational problem
is never a 100%, 0 % issue. You know what I'm
saying? In other words, they're not 100 % wrong
and you're 0 % innocent. Now, most of you would
agree with that, right? Now, what I know is it's
90 -10. It's 90 % them and only 10 % you, right?
I mean, when you think of what they did and what
he did. Okay, now here's the deal. If you want
to see... the wound cleansed. If you want to
not let this anger ruin your relationship with
God and with others and not allow you to be a
vessel and a weapon for righteous ignatiation,
you gotta cleanse the wound. You have to get
rid of the 10 % of your bitterness and anger
and wrath and malice, and you have to confess
it and then repent. Confess means I agree with
God. This anger, this bitterness, this resentment,
this passive aggressive, this leaking, these
exploding, I need to say, Say, God, I am sorry.
Will you forgive me? I turn away from that. I
don't want to do it anymore. I resolve in my
heart. And then you look into the eyes of that
friend or that mate and you say, honey, I want
to tell you, this is how I've hurt you with my
anger. And this is the mask that I wear. And
then with eye contact, will you forgive me? And
then you purpose, and in your heart of hearts,
you know it's a pattern, and you purpose, I don't
want to do this anymore, but if I do it again,
I want you to know, I am going to take this seriously.
And it's hard, and it's painful. And you're saying,
but well, you know, you don't understand, it's
90 % him. Hey, you know what? You own yours.
You can't control him, or you can't control her.
You can't control that person in another state
who did that and moved away with your mate. My
kids and I, I love basketball, and Sunday afternoon
was sort of our release time, and so we played
pickup basketball, and I had a driveway that
had a nice slant to it, so when all my friends
came over, I know where the slant is, and it
was an amazing home court advantage, you know?
Man, I'm shooting kind of short. I don't worry
about it, you know? So, and all my boys, it must
be, and daughter, I don't know what it is, but
there's sort of winning and losing. It's not
like you're better than, but we're intense and
we really like to compete along with my closest
friends. I mean, we're brothers. We really care.
But I mean, it is an in your face, no holes barred.
And when you go to the hoop and a guy gets in
your way, you don't mean to, but I mean, if his
nose gets broken, his nose gets broken. And,
you know, a guy skids on the concrete. So about
every three months, I mean, Teresa is inside
and hearing grunts and rolls. And, you know,
we always go to the ER. And a lot of times you
get a big gash, right? And it was just normal.
I put him in the car. Here we go again. I mean,
three boys. This is life. That's how we did life.
And we loved each other deeply. But I'm going
to tell you, when we went to the ER, and, you
know, there would be like a deep gash and gravel
and dirt. They pour this junk in it. And, you
know, when they were younger, I had to hold it.
Right? Right? And then what do they do? Then
they rub it, and the kid's going. And everything
in you as a parent wants to say, you're hurting
my boy. Hey, doc, do you need to do it that much?
Hey, I've just started. And they start picking
little pieces of gravel out and then it looks
pretty clean to you. Then what do they do? They
take the syringe with a needle, right? And the
saline solution and oh, you know, right? They
cleanse the wound. Because if they don't cleanse
the wound, what happens? It gets infected. It's
not pretty. It hurts a lot. But some of you are
living with an infection that's festered for
decades. Cleanse the wound. Forgive and repent.
Then in verse 32, he says, treat the wound. I
mean, my kids didn't leave with, Dad, I think
it's clean. Then what happens? They treated it.
Verse 32 tells us how to treat it. Be kind and
compassionate to one another, forgiving each
other just as God and Christ also forgave you.
Then he goes on to say, be imitators of God,
therefore, as dearly loved children, live a life
of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself
up for us as a fragrant aroma, a sacrifice to
God. And so he says, you need to cleanse the
wound. And then he goes on to say, we need to
treat it. And this is forgiveness and reconciliation.
I confess it. I repent. And now I've got to take
it from the horizontal and the beginning of confessing
it to a person. And then I need to both receive
and give forgiveness. I need to extend. I'm going
to take you off the hook. I refuse to keep trying
to pay you back. I'm not going to bring your
mind up to God anymore. Out of my mouth, I won't
say to my closest friends anymore how you do
this, and our marriage is like this, and we've
been doing it for years, and he's this viewer,
and she doesn't do this, and every time I know
she's mad because she doesn't want to have sex
ever, and all this stuff. I'm not going to say
it anymore. I'm going to forgive. And I'm gonna
extend reconciliation. I'm gonna say, let's get
back on the same team. I'm gonna do for this
person what Christ has done for me. Be kind.
Be tenderhearted. And by the way, I will just
tell you, that's the issue. According to Jesus,
there's only one reason why people ever get divorced.
Because of the hardness of heart. It's not your
mate's stuff or your stuff. When you get wounded
and you get hurt and you've been spewed on or
they've leaked anger or you feel used, your heart
gets hard. You just start protecting yourself.
And so it's a big risky step of faith where you
cleanse the wound and you confess your side of
it and you repent. And then the next big step
is you extend forgiveness. You say, God, in light
of what you've done for me, I'm going to extend
it to them. I had a situation not all that long
ago where I went through a really, really difficult
time that involved betrayal. I don't know if
you've ever been betrayed, where people make
very specific commitments, and they say they're
going to do certain things, and then you find
yourself like, you're kidding. I mean, just way,
way out there. And for me, maybe it's my personality,
but when you're betrayed, ooh, the anger, the
resentment. And so, you know, I've gotten to
practice this. And to extend forgiveness. And
I really wrestled. I had like a three -month
wrestling match with God telling him what he
ought to do to these people that betrayed me
and they should know better and on and on and
on. And then I had a friend say, you know something?
I'd like you to go through a little exercise.
And he kind of knew the whole gamut of a situation.
And he said, I'd like you to pray for a week
and then we'll meet. It was at a golf club, actually.
And he said, let's meet next week right here,
and I'd like you to pray and ask God any and
every mistake and anything that you would be
culpable of, even the small things, that sort
of help bring about this difficult, painful thing.
And I did. And I remember writing out seven very
specific things that I thought, wow. God, I wish
you wouldn't have shown me so much. And I'd like
to say, and mine were all little and theirs were
all big. It was, oh, that was dumb. And then
I began to think, if I was them, how would I
view that? Well, I could view that maybe he was
actually trying to do that. Gosh, no wonder they
betrayed me. Then there's this. And that wasn't
sin, it was a mistake. And I listed seven things.
And I got the next week with that guy at the
golf course and I looked at it and he said, You're
having a hard time forgiving these people, aren't
you? I said, yeah, I really am. He said, so how
do you think you'd like God to treat you on this
one? I said, man, I don't want what I deserve.
And you know, it was just kind of like he led
me through, you know, here's this guy helping
the pastor who's supposed to know this. And he
kind of led me through that little parable, you
know, in Matthew 18 of the servant that gets
forgiven $20 million. And then he goes and won't
forgive the guy for 20 bucks. And basically what
he said was, it's not about. You want God to
be merciful with you. If you really want that,
you always have to give away what you want to
receive. And then I had, you know, I listed my
excuses. That's not fair. They don't deserve
it. And he looked at me and said, I know. You're
not doing it because they deserve it. You're
doing it to obey. And you're doing it so that
you can be free. And you know what? Christ did
it for you. Not passing it on is not an option.
What do you need to do? You cleanse the wound,
confession and repentance. You treat the wound,
forgiveness and reconciliation. And then third,
you need to bandage the wound. This is chapter
five, verses one and two. I alluded to them earlier
and read them, but you know, Listen to what it
says. It's not about just, okay, I forgave him.
I think everything's okay as far as it depends
on me. I never want to see him again. I never
want to talk to them. I hope nothing ever happens.
Be imitators. Literally, the word is mimic God.
We get our English word. That word imitator,
if you would go to the Greek text, it's M -I
-M -I. Literally, it's mimic God. That's a pretty
big command. Be imitators of God, therefore,
and notice in your notes, put a parentheses around
as dearly loved children. You can't give away
what you don't have. And for many of you, the
breakthrough will come. I remember listing those
seven things, and I don't want to be overly dramatic
here, but when I saw them, I cried. I just thought,
man, that's ugly. And it wasn't like I willfully
did any of that. It wasn't like I was doing some
big bad things. But when I really saw some things
in my heart and when I really saw where I blew
it, it was just like, oh, that's so ugly, God.
And then I had this amazing warmth experience
where Jesus, you know, Chip, I know. That's why
I died. Like, Chip, you know, I really wasn't
surprised on this one. I wasn't shocked. I saw
this one all the way back at the cross. See,
you mimic God, but as one who's already dearly
loved. You don't work this up. It's receiving
more and more. And then as a dearly loved one,
live a life of love as Christ loved us and gave
himself as a fragrant offering and sacrifice.
And so in terms of a very practical way, this
is how you put the past behind you. You put the
past behind you. When I have struggled with forgiveness,
the most powerful thing I've ever experienced
is learning to pray for that person. And it'll
start off not real good, like, Lord, will you
show them what they really need to hear? Lord,
will you cause them to repent? Lord, would you
bring about difficult things in their life so
they would look up to you, seek you, and then
tell me they're sorry? You know, there's all
kind of ways we want to do that. And I've found
that if I can bless those who persecute me, The
word blessed means to seek the salvation or the
deliverance of another. And when people curse
you, it's a strong, strong word of them wanting
to take you down. That's Romans 12, 14. But Romans
12, 14 to 21 became my mantra. Love your enemies.
Paul is really quoting and capsulizing Jesus
in Luke 6. Love your enemies. Do good to them.
Pray for those who use you, who despise you.
If your enemy's hungry, feed him. If he's thirsty,
give him a drink. Don't be overcome with evil.
Overcome evil with good. And so I started praying
for these people every day. And then every time
I took the Lord's Supper, I just made a little
vow. always pray and ask your blessing from the
depth of my heart. And I long for the day when
I hear something great about them, about their
marriage, about their life, about their kids,
about ministry, that my initial reaction before
I can think is rejoicing. And when that day comes,
I'll know that I have act, forgive, process,
forgiven, forgiving. And then when that day comes,
when I can immediately rejoice, when I hear something
good about those who've done me wrong. It will
be forgiven. Forgiveness is a choice. It's a
decision, a process, and there's an ending. And
so every time I took the Lord's Supper, I prayed
and prayed and prayed. And, you know, it just
really was exciting after a journey to hear some
very positive things. And before I could think
about it, it was, thank you, Lord. And it was
like, great, great. I have extended to them what
you extended to me. I don't want them to get
what they deserve. Just like God, I don't want
to get what I deserve. Therefore, be merciful
even as your heavenly Father is merciful, Jesus
said, who causes it to rain on the evil and the
good, on those who give thanks and those who
don't. Here's what we've learned. It's okay to
be angry. It's what I do with it that matters.
Anger can be good. Remember our little equation,
your AQ, your anger quotient? And I wish I had
a big whiteboard. AQ equals E, environment, plus
P, perspective, times O426, obedience to Ephesians
426. And there you have it right there. The action
for a stuffer is to stuff, avoid, pretend, repress,
and suppress. The action for a spewer is explode,
control, either in an uncontrolled manner or
in a very calculated way. Action for a leaker
is passive -aggressive, indirect power, and then
sort of subtle slander. And here's the appropriate
expression. Be assertive. Make non -threatening,
I -feel statements about needs and desires. In
terms of reaction, the stuffer denies feelings
or angry. Me? Angry? Not me. They bury, hide,
pretend you're not angry. Spewers yell, slam
doors, kick, shout, push, shove, become hostile.
Leakers procrastinate, gossip, be late, don't
follow through, and their yes and no is not reliable.
The appropriate biblical response is what? The
reaction, express it directly or release it indirectly,
getting the anger out in a non -destructive way.
So there's times and ways we walk through. You
address it. You address it to a person. Sometimes
it's face -to -face. Sometimes it's on the phone.
Sometimes you write a letter. And other times,
it's a situation where, you know what? It will
do no good. You are not the person responsible
to address it. And what you need to do is do
some healthy, wholesome activity after expressing
it to God. And like for me, it's working out
or taking a walk or listening to music and releasing
that anger and saying, I'm not... I'm not responsible
or I'm not the one to address this, but I need
to deal with my anger. In terms of results, when
you stuff, you grow out of touch with emotions.
You live in denial. You expend excessive energy
avoiding anger. For some of you that are thinking,
this is too hard, this is too difficult, I just
can't wait to get out of here and throw away
these notes and not deal with this, do it for
your kids. Do it for those that are around you
because you will pass it on. The results for
the spewer is damaged relationships and emotional
distance. The results for the leaker is unhealthy
communication, damaged relationships. The appropriate
expression and what occurs, the results are restored
healthy relationships, open, honest communication,
justice and righteousness upheld, grace and mercy
given. Now, you know what? That's a very simple
little chart, but that basically covers almost
everything we've done. Questions for further
thought. Here's where I want you to ponder. I'll
encourage you, you know, as this kind of comes
to a close, who is an accountability partner
of the same sex? Who's two or three other people
in a small group? Who's going to go on a journey
with you to unpack and deal with where God's
spoken to you? Because I will tell you, you know,
Two days from now, the new pressures, the old
patterns, nothing will change unless you start.
And so here's the questions. One, in what areas
do you see the need to become more expressive
in your anger? I mean, where do you see that
you need to be more expressive? Under control,
rightly, directly? Second, what safeguards can
help you express your anger and yet do it appropriately?
Third question is how... Is the example of Jesus
helpful as you examine anger issues relevant
to you? Wasn't it kind of refreshing to think
that Jesus really got angry? Isn't it exciting
to think that there's wrong in the world and
God deposited you with an emotion to make a difference,
to motivate you like few things in all the world,
and that you could make a difference by getting
mad about the right stuff? Fourth, what did you
learn about anger resolution? Why is it so important?
And then fifth, are there any anger issues or
relationships in your life that need complete
resolution? What steps will you take? For some
people, I'll just repeat this one more time.
I don't mean to beat a drum. If you need help
personally, you're a single mom, you're a single
dad, you're a single person, you're a married
couple, and you have tried. And this is a pattern.
And maybe it goes all the way back to some things
that when you really think about it, you've learned,
and you can't solve it yourself. Get some help.
Just get some help. And you say, I can't afford
it. You can't afford not to. I mean, you know,
I discourage people from ever going into debt,
but most of you spend money you don't have on
Christmas every year. 80 or 100 bucks a shot
for someone that would help you walk through
the process to get anger where it needs to be
and it will open up a window of issues that you
had no idea that you'll know the truth and the
truth will set you free and relationships will
be improved and your relationship with God will
get deepened. Like now, what's that worth to
you? I bet more than the car you're driving and
you spend a little money on that. Final thing
I just want to share and this is, This will put
everything in perspective. Just listen very,
very carefully. Did you ever wonder why you get
so mad and what you get mad at? You ever think
of that? Now, I shared the story of that lady
banging that kid into a dryer. I mean, I got
mad. I don't know if you've ever seen really,
really deep injustice, but that gets us angry.
But most of your anger is, and often with people
close, They do you wrong, don't they? It's not
fair. They violate you. They attack you. They
do terrible things to you, and you get mad. And
a lot of times, you ought to get mad, right?
A mate walks out on you, you should, you ought
to be mad. People steal from you, you ought to
be mad. Why? Because it's not right. It's not
fair. It's, ready, wrong. You're listening to
Living on the Edge. return you to Chip's message
in just a minute. But let me quickly share with
you, God has called us to do incredible ministry
work all around the world. And when you regularly
give to Living on the Edge, you're a part of
what we do. So consider becoming a monthly partner
today and visit livingontheedge .org. We appreciate
your generous support. Well, with that, here's
Chip. Question, where'd you get that idea? I
want to suggest that you're made in the image
of God. And there is a phrase that I don't know
that I've heard a message in the last 25 years
where anybody used this phrase. Now, I'm sure
there's some people have. I just may have been
in the wrong circles. The wrath of God. Anybody
heard that one? Or we allude to an old sermon
by Jonathan Edwards and everyone think it was
a terrible sermon. But you know what? Like thousands
of people got saved over that sermon. If you
think you get mad, I mean, picture, if you will,
spending all day and making this beautiful little
sand castle on the beach. And, you know, you
spent all day and it's a beautiful sculpture
and somebody walking by kicks you out of the
way and kicks it down. How do you feel? Mad.
That's what we as human beings have done to God
and his earth and his creation and his son. And
he's holy. And he's pure. And when there is sin,
when things aren't right, he's mad. In fact,
however mad you think you get about stuff, multiply
that infinitely. That's how mad he gets. And
it's called God's just wrath. When you sin, are
you ready for this? He's mad at you. When you
mess up relationships and hurt people, he's mad
at you. When you violate the environment to make
more money, he's mad at you. When you use people
and lie, he's mad at you. Well, should, no, wait
a second. Don't look. I wish I had a picture
of y 'all. He's mad at me. Ethel, you think he's
talking to us right now? Homer, I think he might
be. He's mad at you. He's mad at me. Now, wait
a second. It's okay for you to be mad when someone
walks out on you, isn't it? It's okay for you
to be mad when a child's abused. It's okay for
you to be mad when girls are put into prostitution.
God's mad at you when you sin in your mind, in
your heart, with your mouth and your actions.
And the scripture says, The wrath of God is being
revealed from heaven against all ungodliness
and wickedness of men who suppress the truth
in their wickedness. So if you don't feel a pretty
weighty problem, you need to check your pulse.
You get mad about stuff because you're made in
the image of God who knows the desires and the
thoughts and the intentions, not just of what
you do, but your heart and even your motives.
And the one who wrote those words went on to
say in chapter three, but now a righteousness
from God apart from the law, in other words,
from keeping rules has been made known to which
the law and the prophets testify. So it's not
new. It was the intent all the time of all the
prophets. This righteousness from God comes through
faith in Jesus Christ to a special group, whoever
believes. There's no difference. For all have
sinned, big, small, little. All have sinned and
fall short of the glory of God. And they're justified
freely by what he did, his grace, through the
redemption. That's the purchase price for you.
It's the picture of the slave market. And in
the slave market of sin, at the time this was
written, if you would buy a slave, You would
walk in and you would pay so much and you would
buy the slave. And this is the word redemption
of you being purchased out of the slave market
of sin with your sins and God's wrath and his
anger hanging over your head. And Jesus came
and he offered his blood as the payment price.
And God said, okay, Mary, Bill, Ethel, Chip.
Bob, Jim, whosoever, I'll buy them all back.
The redemption that came by Jesus, God presented
him as a sacrifice of atonement. It's an Old
Testament picture of a covering. His blood covers
the sin. Through faith in his blood. He did this
to demonstrate, notice, his justice because in
his forbearance, he left the sins committed beforehand
unpunished. He did it to demonstrate justice.
God's just. Sin's gotta be dealt with. He's mad
at it. Like you get mad at it. He's angry. He
did it to demonstrate justice in this present
time so he could be just and the one who justifies
those who have faith in Jesus. I would like to
suggest to you that God has an anger issue and
God had to solve his anger issue. And the way
God solved his anger issue toward you was he
sent his son. I don't know how much you know
or where you're coming from. And I think sometimes
we think, you know, I went to a little camp and
I prayed a little prayer and I believe in Jesus,
whatever that means. Let me give it to you straight.
You are under the wrath of God and he's angry
and knows all your sin and all mine. And the
only solution was fully God, fully man, Jesus
came, born of a virgin. He lived an absolutely
perfect life, did miracles, raised people from
the dead, fed people, taught about the kingdom.
told that he would die, raised three days later,
and said, you can only find life in me. Not through
religion, not through rules, not through trying
hard, not through morality. The gateway to abate
the just wrath of God. is he would hang upon
a cross and when he would turn away in fulfillment
of Psalm 22, my God, my God, why have you forsaken
me? He was an actual offering and God took your
sin and my sin and the sins of the whole world
and he placed him on Christ and then he moved
back and with his breath of anger went, and all
of his wrath and hatred for sin was placed on
Christ in that moment and it's finished and you
were forgiven. And I was forgiven. And whosoever
would believe and trust in that work on that
cross by faith receives salvation. And those
who reject that have been provided forgiveness
but will not receive it because of the hardness
of their own heart. Jesus said, I didn't come
to condemn the world. I came to save it. But
those who walk in darkness and turn away, he
came to his own and those who were his own would
not receive him. Question, have you received
the solution to God's anger issue with you? I
didn't ask if you went to church. Didn't ask
if you read your Bible. Didn't ask if you gave
a little money. I didn't ask if you're a little
bit moral than the next guy. Have you at a point
in time in your life recognized that God is angry
with you and rightfully so? And the only remedy
for that anger is the work of Christ so God could
be just fair. What the holiness of God demanded,
the love of God provided. through the cross.
And that's what it means when it says, for God
so loved the world that he gave his one and only
son, that whoever would believe, put trust in
him, would not perish, but have everlasting life.
Have you ever received the free gift of salvation?
It's as simple as saying, looking upon that cross,
your sin God's wrath and recognizing it's been
covered. I can do nothing on my own. I admit
I am a sinner. I ask you now to forgive me, Lord
Jesus. I want to put my faith in your work and
proof of resurrection that your work would cover
me and atone for me. and that you would take
me from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom
of light, and I now, you are the truth and the
life and the way, and I now will have access
and relationship to the Father forever and ever
and ever. Eternal life is not just length. It
begins at this moment. There is no more condemnation.
Now you're a son or a daughter of Christ. Have
you ever done that from your heart and said,
The world behind me, the cross before me. No
turning back. You're listening to Living on the
Edge with Chip Ingram. And the message you just
heard, how to be good and mad, is from our series,
Overcoming Emotions That Destroy. Chip will join
us in studio to share some insights from today's
talk in just a minute. Well, Chip's back in studio
with me, and Chip, as I listen today... You know,
I couldn't help but think about the countless
people listening right now who have real needs.
As we continue to create new programming and
develop resources that meet those needs, the
expenses of the ministry are a monthly issue.
Take a moment, if you would, and talk to those
who have considered partnering with us before
but haven't made that commitment. You know, Dave,
really only about 2 % of all the people that
listen partner with us financially in any way.
And I think sometimes it's because they just
don't think. what I could do would make a difference.
But I just want to encourage some of you that
feel like, you know, God's really using this
in my life, but I'm just not in a position. Maybe
you could do something really small, but God
could take your small gift and do something really
big with it. So thanks so much and appreciate
anything God leads you to do. Thanks, Chip. Well,
if joining the Living on the Edge team is an
idea that makes sense to you, let me encourage
you to become a monthly partner. Now, you can
do that today by visiting livingontheedge .org
or by calling 888 -333 -6003. Take a few minutes
to help others benefit from the work of this
ministry. Call 888 -333 -6003 or go to livingontheedge
.org. App listeners tap donate. Well, we've come
to the end of the series and this last day is
pretty heavy. We've talked about anger and how
we deal with it, how God wants to use it for
good and given a lot of real practical things
and talked about tools to give you. But at the
heart of all of this, when you're wounded, it
starts with forgiveness. And what I know is that
There's some of you that are saying, you know,
you don't understand. You have no idea what I've
been through. And I have a good friend who's
a pastor in Louisville, and he and I were doing
some studying together, and we were just sharing
sort of dramatic stories of God's grace. And
we were discussing how hard it is as pastors
in our own lives, but especially as we help others
really deal with forgiveness. I mean, real resolution
when it's just unmentionable sin. And he told
me this story of a lady. whose husband was a
pastor, and during his message, a man came down
the aisle and shot her husband. And then he began
to share with me the journey this woman went
on to forgive this man, later visit him in prison,
actually achieve a relationship with this man,
and the testimony that was to the entire community.
And he said more than anything else, what it
did in her heart, in her life. And I remember
listening to that story and thinking, you know,
people have been abused, people have been walked
out on, injustice. I mean, it is so deep and
so painful that many of us have buried that hurt
and that wound, and that infection is in your
soul. And you actually get mad and irritable
and struggle with things, and you don't even
know why. God wants to cleanse the wound. Would
you just be willing right now as we close this
series to say, God, I will do whatever you want
me to do. I'm willing to face it. I'm willing
as an act of my will to release that person,
maybe that parent who abused me, that mate that
walked out on me, that kid that's been ungrateful,
that person that took the money, that just whatever.
I'm willing to release them to you as a righteous
judge. And God, I ask that you give me the grace
to forgive them the way you've forgiven me. That's
the first big step on the journey. And if you
need some additional help, let me encourage you,
talk to your pastor. Talk to someone who's spiritually
mature. Or if it's late when you listen to this
and you feel lonely, go to the website at livingontheedge
.org. And there's multiple resources that are
free. And just kind of scan around about where
your hurts and where your needs are. We want
to help you today deal with the wounds in your
heart. Thanks, Chip. Great way to wrap up this
study. Well, until next time, this is Dave Drewy
saying thanks for listening to this edition of
Living on the Edge.