"Do You Do This?"
Our walls of protection that we learned growing up place our trust in our own power rather than in God to be our defense, our protection, and our strength. These self-built walls become fortified over the years and result in our hearts growing hardened or detached from God. The Lord asks us to love him with all of our heart (Luke 10:27). But we cannot fully give to him and receive from him until we allow him to take down our walls.
Sometimes, emotions can turn into strong defense mechanisms. Anger is a perfect example. Anger is a crucial emotion, and although we can sin in the way we express it, anger in itself is not sinful (Ephesians 4:26). We see anger as a powerful pointer to underlying emotions such as pain, fear, disappointment, or loss. However, if we ignore the underlying emotions and simply allow anger to manifest, then it can take on a life of its own. When this happens, others will want to avoid us or learn to carefully walk around us "on eggshells."
Another way we protect ourselves is to follow our apology for something we said or did (or didn't do) with an explanation for our behavior. When we follow our apology with the word "but," we are rationalizing. And that means we just negated what could have been genuine.
By acknowledging to God the ways we have protected ourselves, we break the power of the Enemy's lies and set in motion the transfer of trust from ourselves to God. Doing so is a dramatic step in the healing process. (Excerpt from The Missing Commandment: Love Yourself)
In these two short video clips, we share on "Why do I need anger?" and "Why 'I'm so sorry, but . . .' doesn't cut it." Click below to view, and then see if you are ready to surrender a couple more of these walls. You have everything to gain.
TO SHARE THIS POST: We hope you will share this blog post on your own social media sites and direct those you know to our ministry and publication sites. Use the links at the bottom of the page to help us spread this healing message of "loving ourselves the way God does."
BOOKS AND MEDIA: We have just released our New 2018 Expanded Edition of "The Missing Commandment: Love Yourself," and it is currently being offered at a special introductory price. Check it out at jerryanddenisebasel.com or Amazon.com
COUNSELING MINISTRY: If you or anyone you know is in need of finding a safe place for emotional and/or spiritual healing and restoration, please contact us at The Father's Heart Intensive Christian Counseling Ministry. Check out our web site at fathersheart.com or email us directly at fathersheartmin@gmail.com. We are located in the North Georgia Mountains in a retreat-like setting and counsel individuals or couples for periods of two to five-days in length.
