What Is Most Responsible for Self-sabotage?

What is the difference in feeling regretful for failing to live up to God’s expectations and feeling fearful when facing failure? By choosing to live on the edge of God’s spiritual and moral rules, sliding over the edge will occur. Living on the edge is a clear pathway to self-sabotage.

Samuel, Israel’s last judge, refused to live on that edge because of his love and dedication to God. Saul, Israel’s king, was ambivalent about God’s control in his life. Ambivalence reflected uncertainty about God’s place in his heart. For Samuel, keeping God’s word was paramount.

What sabotaged Saul was permitting uncertainty to determine his choices and behavior. Allowing God to rule in your life isn’t easy, but doable. God’s word encourages you to allow the peace Jesus gives to rule in your heart.

Do this because Jesus first loved you and came into the world to give you peace that lasts for all eternity. 

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I advise you to obey only the Holy Spirit’s instructions.…then you won’t always be doing the wrong things your evil nature wants you to. For we naturally love to do evil things that are just the opposite from the things the Holy Spirit tells us to do, and the good things we want to do when the Spirit has his way with us...

~Galatians 5:16-17 The Living Bible

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How Can Anger Be Helpful?

Managing emotions is required for a person’s well-being and for healthy relationships. Frustration, anger, and fear are emotions that can be helpful and good, provided they’re expressed in ways to encourage helpful resolutions.

Mismanaged emotions are notorious for being out of control and inflicting such harm that recovery may never be forthcoming. However, negative emotions can be helpful when kept under control. God’s word tells us to be angry but not to sin nor let the sun go down on that anger.

God intended for anger to be used as a means for encouraging communication, for relating what you think and feel, but in ways that are non-offensive, that do not criticize or condemn. In this way you obey God by not letting the sun go down on your anger. While obeying this rule is difficult, it is not impossible when Christ Jesus is present.

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Praise the Lord, my soul, and do not forget how kind he is. He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. He keeps me from the grave and blesses me with love and mercy. He fills my life with good things so that I stay young and strong like an eagle.

~Psalm 103: 2-5 Good News Bible

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Is It Beneficial to Identify Positive Attributes in Others?

We are all aware of what happens when important issues are not addressed and solutions found. Delaying to take action to find solutions is fertile ground for a crisis to evolve. A crisis can be avoided by seeking help from God and expressing gratitude for what he provides.

Rare is the situation where it is impossible to express gratitude. I  realize that resentment and fear can so dominate a relationship or a situation that the expressions of gratitude seem beyond utterance. Yet the desire for peace and acceptance seldom escapes our consciousness.

Consider the other person’s positive attributes and tell them what you observe. Permit mutual love for God to create a sense of gratitude within you. This can be the beginning of a relationship of peace for each person. God gives insight, hope and peace to those who love him.            

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Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called… And be thankful.

~Colossians 3:15 Revised Standard Version

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How Is Being Slow to Anger Helpful?

 So much pain and suffering is caused by anger that’s expressed in words or physical violence. Anger can be as addictive as narcotics, and that addiction is difficult to break, especially when it is used as a weapon. Revenge-seeking is given its presence and power when driven by anger. 

Words spoken in anger can shred a person’s self-esteem and create pain that lasts a lifetime. Silence encased in anger portrays a cold, distant attitude that serves as payback for past physical or verbal abuse. Feeling threatened emotionally or physically always accompanies anger at varying levels.

Whatever causes anger, never permit it to become the instrument for getting revenge. We can follow God’s pattern of being slow to anger, abounding in love, as Exodus 34:6 explains. Being slow to anger prevents overreacting by giving you the chance to see situations from God’s point of view.   

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But you, the Lord God, are kind and merciful. You don’t easily get angry, and your love can always be trusted.

~Psalm 86:15 Contemporary English Version

 

Let Christ’s peace control you. God has called you into this peace by bringing you into one body. And be thankful.

~Colossians 3:15 God’s Word Translation

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God's Gift: Inner Peace in the Presence of Discord

God sent Jesus, the Prince of Peace into the world to create a state of goodwill between himself and you. Jesus, the Prince of Peace, generated a spiritual flame to burn in the heart and soul of all humanity. He came with a message of God’s love that burns so deeply and intensely that nothing can permanently extinguish it.

How does Jesus, the Prince of Peace, calm your inner being so you can live in  peace with yourself and others? Decide to be a peacemaker so you can, by faith, enjoy the gifts of love and mercy God will bestow on you. Faith is God’s gift to you, so open your heart to receive it. God bless you and Merry Christmas!   

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God does not want us to be in disorder but in harmony and peace.

1 Corinthians 14:33 Good News Bible

Let the peace of heart which comes from Christ be always present in your hearts and lives, for this is your responsibility and privilege as members of his body. And always be thankful.

~Colossians 3:15 The Living Bible

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On Wednesday, December 21 through Christmas Day, blogs will be posted each day to coincide with KHCB radio's special music and short devotional programming, "Five Days of Christmas". 

Christ's Peace at Christmas – Live It

 Wanting a happy, joyful Christmas season is a natural desire for most believers in Christ Jesus. Yet we live in a world of chaos and trouble that at times appears to be absent of peace and joy. This is even true within some families that are ravished by strife. However, reconciliation is possible when pride and power are sacrificed for peace that honors Christ Jesus.

Listen to the gift of peace offered to you as you put aside anger and strife. “You, O Lord, will keep in perfect peace those whose mind is fixed on you.” You can trust in Jesus to be present each minute of each day. Thank him for this precious gift. Merry Christmas and God bless you.  

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Try to get along and live peacefully with each other. Now I pray that God, who gives love and peace, will be with you.

~2 Corinthians 13:11 Contemporary English Version

 And let the peace of the Messiah, to which you were also called in one body, control your hearts.

~Colossians 3:15 Holman Christian Standard Bible

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This week on December 21-25, KHCB Radio will celebrate Christmas by providing alternate programming, the Five Days of Christmas, with only Christmas music and short devotionals. Accordingly, AttitudesAnswers will post a short Christmas blog post and podcast each day this week. Merry Christmas!

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Give God Your Worries – and Your Gratitude

Happiness and thanksgiving are adversely affected by anxiety and worry. Researchers have noted that excessive levels of anxiety and worry negatively impact our physical and mental health. Before the Industrial Revolution and the production of safe food and modern medicine, a major worry was staying alive one day at a time.

The make-up of personal worries varies, but even minor concerns can diminish happiness and the willingness to be thankful. For instance, our drinking water is as safe as any nation’s, yet one of the best-selling products in stores is filtered bottled water. It feels safer drinking water from a bottle than from a faucet.

When worry prompts you to change what is unhealthy, destructive or bad, then worry is appropriate; however, when it robs you of peace of mind and the inability to be thankful, including feelings of joy, then reassessing your faith in God is in order. Strong, godly faith diminishes worry and restores your trust that God will give you peace and joy.  

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Each one of you is part of the body of Christ, and you were chosen to live together in peace. So let the peace that comes from Christ control your thoughts. And be grateful.

~Colossians 3:15 Contemporary English Version

Let him have all your worries and cares, for he is always thinking about you and watching everything that concerns you.

~1 Peter 5:7 The Living Bible