Freedom . . . from the past.  2 Corinthians 1.12-14

Do you ever think about your behavior? You know,

  ~why you do the things you do

     ~why you look at things like you do

         ~why you view the world around you as you do

Put another way, what informs your thoughts and actions?  I have had several conceptual notions floating around in my head that needed to be connected . . . kinda’ like an esoteric dot-to-dot picture.  The thoughts were prompted by different people I know right now.

Conscience  - do you have one? How does it function? Do you listen to it?

Conduct – do you give much thought to yours?   

Holiness – something to strive for, or just an antiquated notion, better left to your Aunt Martha?

Worldly wisdom  vs.  God’s grace – Paul refers to both in today’s passage; on which one do you place more value?

Paul writes:

Now this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, in the holiness and sincerity that are from God. We have done so not according to worldly wisdom but according to God’s grace.  For we do not write you anything you cannot read or understand. And I hope that, as you have understood us in part, you will come to understand fully that you can boast of us just as we will boast of you in the day of the Lord Jesus.  2 Corinthians 1.12-14

“Law and Order” is on—the story is about a Megan’s Law violator—a convicted felon who did hard time.  ‘Fact is, he explains his behavior as a result of his own abuse as a child.  >Then there is another beautiful lady who struggles with depression, faith, and her sexual identity . . . why?  She was sexually abused by an official in the Jehovah’s Witness hall she attended with her mother; her mother just looked the other way.   >Finally, I know a businessman who describes being abandoned by his father at a young age, with no understanding of why.  The pain: rejection, abandonment.  The result: mistrust, fear.   Is there any hope to recover from past pain?

Here is my theory—most people give little real consideration to their thoughts and actions, otherwise known as behavior... unless there is some kind of interruption in life—perhaps even, a momentous interruption in life… They might think of their behavior when trying to defend themselves.  As a result, so many people are walking around so very wounded… covering up pain with antidepressants, alcohol, and other pain-avoidance mechanisms.  In short, I believe that those concepts I listed above: conscience, conduct, holiness, worldly wisdom vs. God’s grace, have everything to do with emotional, physical, and even spiritual health.

Said a different way, many of us are in need of inner healing.  Inner healing is the healing of the inner man—the intellectual, volitional and affective areas commonly referred to as mind, will and heart, including emotions, psyche, soul and spirit.1

Inner healing could and should address the pain we carry within from our own sin, and also by our being sinned against. Inner healing is indicated whenever we become aware that we are held down in any way by hurts of the past.2

Has anyone overtly sinned against you in such a way or ways as to damage you?  Acknowledge the nature of that now.___________________________  How has it affected your life?_________________________________   Forgiveness will eventually be in order.

Are there things you have done that continue to cause guilt and feelings of inadequacy? Free yourself by naming those things.____________________________ Confess them to God.  Repentance and the acceptance of God’s forgiveness must follow.

Otherwise, your conscience will be skewed, which naturally affects your conduct.  Remember the apostle Peter?  If he had let guilt rule his life after he denied the Lord three times, he would never have been such an effective, dynamic leader in the early church!  Once forgiven, Peter forged ahead—he repented, accepted forgiveness, and the inner peace to go with it.

Inner peace . . . go after it.  Do not let your past cripple your present.

Christine