Learning How to Do Life Well
Tim wraps up the series on Enemies of the Heart with a look back at the four primary emotions that can destroy are hearts, and the primary emotion that touches all four. How do we deal with our conflicting desires?
Jealousy shows up in some surprising places…and in some surprising ways. And Jealousy has disastrous and long-lasting results.
Tim discusses this emotion and give a wrapup to our discussion of the destructive emotions that disrupt our relationships with others AND with God.
Tim discusses the central issue to our relationship issues and what is really going on underneath. Then we begin to look at the fourth emotion that has the potential to make our hearts sick.
Tim introduces the fourth emotion with a look at the common denominator behind each and every relational issue we have or will ever have.
What does James, Peter, and Jesus say about our relationship struggles and how to fix them?
Trudi discusses the third major emotion that will make our heart sick if we let it. Even though this is a major issue, I’m not sure we talk about this very much, even though it affects us in many ways.
Unfortunately, there was an error in recording last week’s class. However, Trudi recaps most of what was said in the beginning of this week’s lesson.
We won’t take up anymore time in class talking about anger right now. Next week we’re moving on with the third emotion we have to handle well in order to keep our hearts whole and healthy.
But one thing I [Tim] failed to reiterate in class is this: while forgiving is essential to removing anger from our hearts, and we should be very conscious of forgiving every time we are angry, there is an additional process we need to go through. It’s what Paul mentioned in Ephesians 4:32 – “…be kind and compassionate…“. Getting rid of the anger — and the slander, gossip, evil thoughts, etc. that go with anger — is not enough. Canceling the debt is critical, but if we stop there, we haven’t done enough.
In fact, if we simply cancel the debt, but don’t take proactive steps to be kind and compassionate to those that have hurt us, we will find that we are continually reminding ourselves of our decision to cancel the debt. It’s like a farmer preparing his field. Imagine the farmer tilling the soil, removing all the weeds, but never planting anything. Kindness and compassion have to be planted or the relationship will never yield a harvest for either of you.
This is where we usually let our feelings stop us. We “cancel the debt”, but we wait for our feelings to settle down before we try to be kind and compassionate. Kindness and compassion will be as much of a decision as canceling the debt was.
Your thoughts?