Freedom in Christ Lesson 7 Podcast

Freedom in Christ Lesson 7: Handling Emotions Well  

Focus Verse:

1 Peter 5:7-8 (NIV2011)
⁷ Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
⁸ Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

Objective: To understand our emotional nature and how it is related to what we believe.

Focus Truth: Our emotions are essentially a product of our thoughts and our barometer of our spiritual help.

Welcome

Would you describe yourself as an emotional person? Tell the group about an event in the past that resulted in emotional pain or joy.

Read aloud the following passages:

Psalm 139:1-24 (NKJV)
¹ O LORD, You have searched me and known me. ² You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. ³ You comprehend my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways. ⁴ For there is not a word on my tongue, But behold, O LORD, You know it altogether. ⁵ You have hedged me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me. ⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain it. ⁷ Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? ⁸ If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. ⁹ If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, ¹⁰ Even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me.
¹¹ If I say, "Surely the darkness shall fall on me," Even the night shall be light about me;
¹² Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, But the night shines as the day; The darkness and the light are both alike to You. ¹³ For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb. ¹⁴ I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. ¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. ¹⁶ Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them. ¹⁷ How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! ¹⁸ If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake, I am still with You. ¹⁹ Oh, that You would slay the wicked, O God! Depart from me, therefore, you bloodthirsty men. ²⁰ For they speak against You wickedly; Your enemies take Your name in vain.
²¹ Do I not hate them, O LORD, who hate You? And do I not loathe those who rise up against You? ²² I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them my enemies.
²³ Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties;
²⁴ And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.

 

God is Described in Emotional Language

This session marks the start of the third section of the course, where we're going to find out how we can break the hold that the past has on us.

In this session we're going to consider the whole question of our emotions. Did you know that the Bible describes God using emotional language?

He loves us so much that He is described as “jealous” (Ex 34:14). We are told it is possible to “grieve” the Holy Spirit. (Eph 4:30).

Jesus wept at the grave of Lazarus (John 11:35) and when he looked at Jerusalem (Luke 19: 41).

We Can't Directly Control How We Feel

As we saw in the first session, were made in God's image so we too have an emotional nature.

We can't simply turn our emotions on and off with a remote control like our TV. They aren't like our ability to walk or wave our hand, where we just make a conscious decision to do it. They are more like the way our heartbeats or our immune system functions. It just happens.

And right there you have a key principle concerning our emotions: although you can't control them directly, you can change them over time, as you make a conscious choice to change what you can control. And you can control what you choose to believe.

Negative Emotions: Our Red Warning Light.

Your emotions are to your soul what your ability to feel pain is to your body.

Suppose someone had the power to take away the sensation of pain and offered it to you as a gift. Would you receive it?

It would be tempting, wouldn't it, especially if you were in chronic pain? But it would be dangerous.

 

All week you've been going through a range of emotions, but none of them were based on reality. What you believed wasn't actually true.

Let's look at a Biblical example. It's in Lamentations 3:1-11 and Jeremiah is in complete despair because he believes that God is the cause of all his problems.

“I am the man who had seen affliction by the rod of the Lord's wrath. He has driven me away and made me walk in darkness rather than light; Indeed, he has turned his hand against me again and again, all day long. He has made my skin and my flesh grow old and has broken my bones. He has besieged me and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship. He has made me dwell in darkness like those long dead. He has walled me in so I cannot escape; He has waved me down with chains. Even when I call out or cry for help, He shuts out my prayer. He has barred my way with blocks of stone; He has made my paths crooked. Like a bear lying in wait, like a lion in hiding, he dragged me from the path and mangled me and left me without help.

But look again at what Jeremiah believed. Is it true? Would God really turn his hand against one of his servants again and again? Does he surround his people with bitterness and hardship? Does he shut out our prayers? Of course not!

 

What was the problem? Simply that what Jeremiah believed about God wasn't actually true! God hadn't wall him in God wasn't like a wild animal who had mangled him. If your hope was in God and this was your belief about what he was like, you'd be depressed too!

Thankfully, Jeremiah doesn't leave it there. He thinks more about it. It's like he gets up and goes for a walk. And he has a change in perspective. The passage continues:

Lamentations 3:19- 24:  I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the goal. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mine and therefore I have hope: because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; Therefore I will wait for him.”

What changed in his circumstances? Absolutely nothing. Did God change? No! The only thing that changed was in his mind: how he looked at his circumstances. Everything changed internally for him when he said, in essence, “Come on Jeremiah, get a grip. What's really true here?” Then he wrote, “This I call to mine and therefore, I have hope. Great is your faithfulness.” And he had to talk truth to himself: “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”

Pause for Thought 1

Objective:

To reinforce the concept that God gave us emotions for our own protection.

Questions:

Look at the example of Jesus in Matthew 26:37 and that of David and 2 Samuel 6:14. What can they teach us?

“God gave us the ability to feel emotional pain for our own protection.” Do you agree? If so, how do you think that works in practice?

Discuss this statement: “If what you believe does not reflect what is actually true, then what you feel won't reflect reality.” 

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Negative Emotions Can Help Us

Things like hormones or even the weather can play a part in producing negative emotions, but generally speaking they are a gift from God to help us uncover something we believe that isn't actually true. Let's consider two areas where they do that.

 

1.     Faulty Life-Goals

First they can help us undercover faulty life-goals. We've seen how God created us to be accepted, significant, and secure.

Every day as we grew up, we saw our lives stretching out ahead of us and, whether we realized it or not, we got up and we walked worked toward whatever we thought would give us those things. Consciously or unconsciously we developed a set of “life-goals”. But are those life-goals the same as the goals God has for us? Negative emotions can help us identify those that are not.

Anger signals a blocked life goal

If you are finding yourself feeling angry a lot, it's usually because someone or something is blocking a goal you have.  I don't know about you but I have a strange knack of always choosing the wrong checkout in the supermarket. No matter how short the line, a problem develops. If you are in a hurry to get to a meeting, that makes you angry because your goal is being blocked.

Anxiety Signals An Uncertain Life-Goal

It's not just anger that highlights unhealthy life-goals: anxiety does too. Anxiety is signaling that achieving a goal feels uncertain. You were hoping something will happen, but you have no guarantee that it will. You can control some of the factors, but not all of them. For example, if you have come to believe that your sense of security depends on financial success and that has become a life goal, you will probably suffer from anxiety. Why? Because you have no guarantee that you can ever get enough money or, even if you feel you have enough, that it won't be wiped out by a financial crisis.

Depressions Signals an Impossible Life-Goal

Sometimes a life goal that has already was already uncertain seems to slip even further away to the point where its fulfillment begins to appear impossible: it's never going to happen. At that point anxiety turns to depression.

Of course, the causes of depression are complex and our hormones and other things going on in our bodies can play up part. But if there is no overriding physical cause, then depression is usually rooted in a sense of hopelessness or helplessness. But no child of God is helpless, and no child of God is hopeless, whatever their circumstances.

We will get rid of a great deal of anger, anxiety, and depression if we ensure that our life goals are in line with God's goals for us.

And one thing we can be sure of is that any goal God has for us is one that will not be able to be blocked by other people or by circumstances that we have no right or ability to control. How can we be so sure? Because God loves us too much to set us a goal that we couldn't reach.

1.     Uncovering Lies that Past Experiences Have Taught Us to Believe

The other area where negative emotions can help is in uncovering lies that past experiences have introduced into our belief system. All of us have had traumatic experiences that have scarred us in some way: a frightening experience, loss of a loved one, some form of abuse.

When you suffered that negative experience you mentally processed it at the time it happened. It almost certainly caused you to believe some things about God and yourself: “Those bullies told me I was trash. I guess I am.”, “My dad never has time for me. I'm not important.” If you suffered some kind of sexual abuse as a child, at the time it happened you probably felt dirty. If you thought God wasn't there for you, then you probably question God's love and your salvation.

The beliefs that come as a result of those traumatic experiences stay with you and become deeply ingrained strongholds. We’ll look at how to demolish them in session 9 but for now let's just recognize this: we remain in bondage to the past, not because of the traumatic experience itself, but because of the lies it caused us to believe.

Children of God are not primarily products of their past. They are primarily products of Christ's work on the cross and His resurrection. Nobody can change our past, but we can choose to walk free of it. That's the whole point of the gospel.

Jesus didn't just come to give you a way to cope with the effects of the past. He came to help you resolve those effects completely. It takes time and it's a struggle. But He is with you every step and He's already given you everything you need.

Pause for Thought 2

Objective: To help people understand how emotions can highlight faulty beliefs we may hold and that we can resolve past issues in Christ.

Questions:

Describe a life goal you have had that you thought would make you feel significant, secure, and accepted that ended up being blocked.

How can traumatic experiences lead us to believe a lie about ourselves, God, or Satan?

Discuss this statement: “Children of God are not primarily products of their past. They are primarily products of Christ's work on the cross in His resurrection.

Nobody can change our past, but we can choose to walk free of it. That's the whole point of the gospel.

 

The Dangers

We saw in the last session how the emotion of anger can give the enemy of foothold in our lives if we don't quickly resolve an offense. Anxiety has similar dangers.

Here's a verse you probably know: “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” And here's another one: “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

What you may not know is that these verses directly follow each other in 1 Peter 5: 7-8. They are both part of the same idea. Peter is telling us to be self-controlled and not let anxiety take hold of us. If we don't, he warns that the devil, like a roaring lion, is prowling around looking to devour us.

Three Keys to Emotional Health

Let's look at three keys to being emotionally healthy:

Know Who You Are In Christ

If you know your true identity in Christ: in your heart, not just your head, you won't go looking for acceptance, significance, and security in those faulty life-goals.

And those who have suffered trauma in the past, you can learn to remove re-evaluate your past experiences from the perspective of who you now are in Christ.

The truth is you are a complete, clean, holy child of God with unlimited potential in Him. You might be thinking, “But I had awful things done to me that make me feel dirty”. That doesn't change who you are now. You may feel dirty but you are not actually dirty because you are a new creation in Christ. As you understand and believe this truth, and forgive those who have hurt you from your heart, you can walk in your freedom and Christ.

What once might have seemed like a huge mountain that was impossible to move can become something that actually makes you stronger as you climb and conquer it in Jesus.

Be Honest

The second thing we can do to guarantee that we are emotionally healthy is to be honest about how we feel, rather than try to bury our feelings or thoughtlessly express them. And that starts with being honest with God.

Let me read you a prayer from David who was described as a man after God's heart. Maybe you can use this passage as a model when you pray for people.

Psalm 109: 6- 15:

Appoint someone evil to oppose my enemy; let an accuser stand at his right hand. When he is tried, let him be found guilty, and may his prayers condemn him. May his days be few; may another take his place of leadership. May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow. May his children be wandering beggars; may they be driven from their ruined homes. Maya creditor sees all he has; May strangers plunder the fruits of his labor. May no one extend kindness to him or take pity on his fatherless children. May his descendants be cut off, their names blotted out from the next generation. May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the Lord; May the sin of his mother never be blotted out. May their sin always remain before the Lord that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth.

In the name of Jesus. Amen!

 

What on earth is that doing in the Bible? Well, have you ever felt like that? Have you ever prayed like that? Would it be right to pray like that?

Well, David prayed like that, and God inspired him to write it down.

Does God already know you feel that way? Of course He does. God knows the thoughts and intentions of our hearts. So the question is, if God already knows it, why can't we be honest with Him? Would He still love us if we were totally honest with Him about how we feel? Absolutely!

The problem with this Psalm is that it sounds like it's OK to ask God to wipe someone out. But finished the Psalm. Once David had his emotional eruption, after he had been honest with God about how he was really feeling he returns to praising God. You can be completely honest with God. He is your closest friend. As a matter of fact, you can't be right with God without first being real with Him. God may use the circumstances of your life to make you real in order that you can be right with Him.

Commit to Believing the Truth

The third thing we need to do to guarantee that we are emotionally healthy is to embrace the truth. We've seen that behind those wrong life goals are lies. And those traumatic experiences we had continue to affect us because they made us believe lies. Our freedom comes from knowing the truth.

Freedom in Christ Presenter, Daryl Fitzgerald shares a testimony of his childhood that relates to this.

His parents were really into sports, and they pushed him to be the best he could be when he played. But when they pushed him it didn't come out very affirming but actually very critical period that led him to believe that God was harsh, critical, and distant.

None of us had perfect fathers, and we often have come to believe lies about our Heavenly Father because of our experience with our earthly fathers. To finish this session, we have another list of biblical truths. It's the truth about our Heavenly Father.

Let's say these words together to our amazing and loving Father God to remind ourselves what is really true:  (My Father God) 

I renounce the lie that you, Father God, are distant and uninterested in me.

I choose to believe the truth that You, Father God, are always personally present with me, have plans to give me a hope and a future, and have prepared works in advance specifically for me to do.

I renounce the lie that You, Father God, are insensitive and don't know me or care for me.

I choose to believe the truth that You, Father God, are kind and compassionate and know every single thing about me.

I renounced the lie that You, Father God, are stern and have placed unrealistic expectations on me.

I choose to believe the truth that You, Father God, have accepted me and are joyfully supportive of me.

I renounce the lie that You, Father God, are passive and cold toward me.

I choose to believe the truth that You, Father God, are warm and affectionate toward me.

I renounce the lie that You, Father God, are absent or too busy for me.

I choose to believe the truth that You, Father God, are always present and eager to be with me and enable me to be all that You created me to be.

I renounced the lie that you, Father God, are impatient or angry with me or have rejected me.

I choose to believe the truth that You, Father God, are patient and slow to anger, and that when You discipline me, it is a proof of Your love, and not rejection.

I renounce the lie that You, Father God, have been mean, cruel, or abusive to me.

I choose to believe the truth that Satan is mean, cruel, and abusive, but You, Father God, are loving, gentle, and protective.

I renounce the lie that You, Father God, are denying me the pleasures of life.

I choose to believe the truth that you, Father God, are the author of life and will lead me into love, joy, and peace when I choose to be filled with Your Spirit.

I renounce the lie that You, Father God, are trying to control and manipulate me.

I choose to believe the truth that You, Father God, set me free and gave me the freedom to make choices and grow in Your grace.

I renounce the lie that You, Father God, have condemned me and no longer forgive me.

I choose to believe the truth that You, Father God, have forgiven all my sins and will never use them against me in the future.

I renounce the lie that You, Father God, reject me when I fail to live a perfect or sinless life.

I choose to believe the truth that You, Father God, are patient toward me and cleanse me when I fail.

 I AM THE APPLE OF YOUR EYE!

 If you realize that you have had a faulty understanding of God, reading this list out loud every day for six weeks or so can dramatically help heal your emotional pain.

 

Reflection 

Objective: To give opportunity to take the “My Father God” truth statements to a deeper level.

How easy do you find it to tell God exactly how you feel?

Read the “My Father God” truth statements one at a time and pause after each one to let it sink in.

How does understanding the truth about Him make it easier to be emotionally honest with Him?

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Witness – If you are feeling angry, anxious, or depressed, do you think it would be better not to let that show to not-yet Christians around you? Why? Why not?

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In the Coming Week – Consider the emotional nature of the Apostle Peter. First, have a look at some occasions where he let his emotions run away him and acted or spoke too hastily:

Matthew 16:21-23 (NKJV)
²¹  From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.
²²  Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, "Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!"
²³  But He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men."

Matthew 17:1-5 (NKJV)
¹  Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves;
²  and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.
³  And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.
⁴  Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."
⁵  While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!"

 

John 18:1-11 (NKJV)
¹  When Jesus had spoken these words, He went out with His disciples over the Brook Kidron, where there was a garden, which He and His disciples entered.
²  And Judas, who betrayed Him, also knew the place; for Jesus often met there with His disciples.
³  Then Judas, having received a detachment of troops, and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons.
⁴  Jesus therefore, knowing all things that would come upon Him, went forward and said to them, "Whom are you seeking?"
⁵  They answered Him, "Jesus of Nazareth." Jesus said to them, "I am He." And Judas, who betrayed Him, also stood with them.
⁶  Now when He said to them, "I am He," they drew back and fell to the ground.
⁷  Then He asked them again, "Whom are you seeking?" And they said, "Jesus of Nazareth."
⁸  Jesus answered, "I have told you that I am He. Therefore, if you seek Me, let these go their way,"
⁹  that the saying might be fulfilled which He spoke, "Of those whom You gave Me I have lost none."
¹⁰  Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus.
¹¹  So Jesus said to Peter, "Put your sword into the sheath. Shall I not drink the cup which My Father has given Me?"

Second, look at how Jesus was able to look beyond these emotional outbursts and see his potential:

Matthew 16:17-19 (NKJV)
¹⁷  Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
¹⁸  And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
¹⁹  And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."

Finally, see how that came true when Peter, under the power of the Holy Spirit, became the spokesperson of the early church:

Acts 2:14-41 (NKJV)
¹⁴  But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, "Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words.
¹⁵  For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day.
¹⁶  But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
¹⁷  'And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams.
¹⁸  And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy.
¹⁹  I will show wonders in heaven above And signs in the earth beneath: Blood and fire and vapor of smoke.
²⁰  The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD.
²¹  And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the LORD Shall be saved.'
²²  "Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know--
²³  Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death;
²⁴  whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it.
²⁵  For David says concerning Him: 'I foresaw the LORD always before my face, For He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken.
²⁶  Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad; Moreover my flesh also will rest in hope.
²⁷  For You will not leave my soul in Hades, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.
²⁸  You have made known to me the ways of life; You will make me full of joy in Your presence.'
²⁹  "Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.
³⁰  Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne,
³¹  he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption.
³²  This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses.
³³  Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear.
³⁴  For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: 'The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand,
³⁵  Till I make Your enemies Your footstool." '
³⁶  "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."
³⁷  Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?"
³⁸  Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
³⁹  For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call."
⁴⁰  And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse generation."
⁴¹  Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.

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 We are Reproducing the "My Father God" List at the end of this outline for easy of use: 

My Father God 

I renounce the lie that You, Father God, are distant and uninterested in me.

I choose to believe the truth that You, Father God, are always personally present with me, have plans to give me a hope and a future, and have prepared works in advance specifically for me to do. (Psalm 139:1-18; Matthew 28:20, Jeremiah 29:11, Ephesians 2:10).

I renounce the lie that You, Father God, are insensitive and don't know me or care for me.

I choose to believe the truth that You, Father God, are kind and compassionate and know every single thing about me. (Psalm 103:8-14;  1 John 3:1-3; Hebrews 4:12-13).

I renounced the lie that You, Father God, are stern and have placed unrealistic expectations on me.

I choose to believe the truth that You, Father God, have accepted me and are joyfully supportive of me. (Romans 5:8-11; 15:17).

I renounce the lie that You, Father God, are passive and cold toward me.

I choose to believe the truth that You, Father God, are warm and affectionate toward me. (Isaiah 40:11; Hosea 11:3-4).

I renounce the lie that You, Father God, are absent or too busy for me.

I choose to believe the truth that You, Father God, are always present and eager to be with me and enable me to be all that You created me to be. (Phil 1:6; Hebrews 13:5).

I renounced the lie that you, Father God, are impatient or angry with me or have rejected me.

I choose to believe the truth that You, Father God, are patient and slow to anger, and that when You discipline me, it is a proof of Your love, and not rejection. (Ex 34:6; Romans 2:4; Hebrews 12:5-11).

I renounce the lie that You, Father God, have been mean, cruel, or abusive to me.

I choose to believe the truth that Satan is mean, cruel, and abusive, but You, Father God, are loving, gentle, and protective. (Ps 18:2; Matt 11:28-30; Eph 6:10-18).

I renounce the lie that You, Father God, are denying me the pleasures of life.

I choose to believe the truth that you, Father God, are the author of life and will lead me into love, joy, and peace when I choose to be filled with Your Spirit. (Lam 3:22- 23;    Gal 5:22-24).

I renounce the lie that You, Father God, are trying to control and manipulate me.

I choose to believe the truth that You, Father God, set me free and gave me the freedom to make choices and grow in Your grace. (Gal 5:1; Heb 4:15-16).

I renounce the lie that You, Father God, have condemned me and no longer forgive me.

I choose to believe the truth that You, Father God, have forgiven all my sins and will never use them against me in the future. (Jeremiah 31: 31- 34; Romans 8:1).

I renounce the lie that You, Father God, reject me when I fail to live a perfect or sinless life.

I choose to believe the truth that You, Father God, are patient toward me and cleanse me when I fail. (Proverbs 24:16; 1 John 1:7- 2:2).

 I AM THE APPLE OF YOUR EYE! (Deuteronomy 32:9-10).  

 

If you realize that you have had a faulty understanding of God, reading this list out loud every day for six weeks or so can dramatically help heal your emotional pain.