... himself in our behalf. What would Jesus do? To answer that question, you must begin with his humility. If you want to live as Jesus lived, you must be willing to look beyond you own needs to the needs of others. This does not mean you loathe yourself. Do you think Jesus loathed himself? Of course not. But, in contrast to most of the rest of humanity he did not live just for himself. He lived and died for you and me. Jack Kelley, a reporter for USA Today once told the story of the ravaging famine in Somalia ...
... . A teenager who has difficulty with self-love might begin to overdress and run up some high clothing bills. Or she might begin to "underdress." Her dad begins to notice and complains, "You're not going to school dressed like that, are you?"\n Self-loathing can also affect your friendships. Who wants to be around a fellow who has a dark cloud of inferiority hanging over his head all the time? Misery loves company, but company doesn't love misery.\n Self-confidence could get you a promotion, while personal ...
... in the ancient world for the Assyrian Empire. They ruled their subjects with terror and brutality. Take all the fear and loathing Americans feel for our most hated national enemies and multiply it ten times. That's how people felt about the ... can we. Jonah grew to do it and so can we. By God's patient love, we can enter our Ninevehs today, not with fear and loathing, but with faith and steadfast courage. By God's patient love, we can go to our Ninevehs and emerge as more than conquerors through Him who ...
... of Israel," is a little too gentle to be totally accurate. The Egyptians could easily have exterminated the Hebrews or, at the least, forced them to leave the country. Unger's commentary on the Old Testament, Vol. 1, translates verse twelve as "felt a loathing for." Egyptians couldn't forget the Hebrews were Semites and they were different. These stubborn people retained many of their old ways. They went into their adopted country as nomads and came out as nomads. In Goshen, which was a grazing rather than ...
... boiled cakes. Then he would spring on her, even as the wolf trapped Little Red Riding Hood. The ploy worked and Tamar was forced to yield to her wicked half-brother. His prize was won, but it left an unpleasant taste in his mouth. He loathed Tamar because he loathed himself. He refused to make her an honest woman by marrying her. He could have done this since, in Hebrew society, a half-brother could wed his half-sister. Even Father Abraham had married his half-sister Sarah. He could have confessed his foul ...
... about his willingness to perform a marriage ceremony for the daughter of a friend. He does this against his better judgment because of the political implications and usual criticisms of favoritism. True to his fears one guest who appears is loathed by all the other guests. Because everyone loathes the unpopular guest, all are held as suspects when the man is killed during the ceremony. The novel revives memories of times when we have been invited to a wedding we did not appreciate. Often we do ask, “Do we ...
... live. But it all comes through a bolt of blessing called lightning. That lightning is a picture of the goodness and the mercy of God. No wonder we are told to love mercy. Too often I am afraid we love judgment and loathe mercy. When it ought to be the other way around, we ought to loathe judgment and love mercy. I heard about a shame-faced employee who came before the president of his company. His head was down because he had been caught in embezzlement. He did not know what was happening. The very best he ...
... and despises himself… and the bitterness manifested by such a person is but the projection of his own contempt for himself.” (Bonnell, Do You Want To Be Healed? p.97) - I’m thinking of the alcoholic who despises himself and what he is becoming, who loathes his inability to cope with his problem, who wrestles constantly with guilt and as a result is mean to his wife and children. - I’m thinking of the college student who doesn’t study, flunks her exam and then disgusted with herself, lashes out at ...
... about the kind you encounter in Hollywood movies or at Halloween or in tales you tell in the dark. Real ghosts are much more frightening, the ghosts that live in our hearts –the ghosts of deeds past. Our guilt, our shame, our fear, our self-loathing, our insecurities, our pain. Within our hearts, these negative thoughts and emotions take on lives of their own, causing us anxiety, worry, fear, and distress. In today’s scripture, we read about one of the most notorious and heinous crimes in the Bible: the ...
... times. But things, as things sometimes do, got even worse. Job is struck down by a hideous illness. In utter misery, Mrs. Job advises, “Curse God and die” (2:9). Still Job remained faithful, though miserable. “I will complain in the bitterness of my soul...I loathe my life” (7:11, 16). For thirty chapters, Job sends up loud complaint. Something has gone wrong with the world. Job obeyed God, did right. For this, he has received utter misery. He pleads for God to come and to explain why. Job begs God ...
... told David this story: "There were two men in certain city, the one rich and the other poor. The rich man had very many flocks and herds; but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb ... Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was loathe to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him, but he took the poor man's lamb, and prepared that for the guest who had come to him" (2 Samuel 12:1-4). When David heard the story he angrily ...
... right to belong to an exclusive dinner party, they had. Without dispute, they were good men. The prostitute had led quite a different life. Somewhere in her past, she may have been sexually abused, or she may have lacked love, or may have fallen into self-loathing, and then desperately sought some kind of warmth or affection. Or it might be she was trying, in her own way, to conquer a male-chauvinist, double-standard society. If she had been widowed or divorced, she might have turned to the only means of ...
... a true mentor could give. There are times in this life when we need a second dosage to provide us with strength for the fight. A friend related a story to me about how his mother would keep him in church all day Sunday. This friend had come to loathe church because it took too much of his time. But as he had grown older, he realized the value of the lessons imparted to him as a youngster. "My mother stayed in church all day because she realized what she needed to fight the enemy and raise seven children ...
... cross has long been the central symbol of the Ku Klux Klan, bigots who are convinced that bigotry is righteousness. But racial bigotry is not the only form of bigotry, and racists not the only bigots. Who among us hasn't look down at some time with loathing on the poor or the rich, the fragile or the proud, the unemployed or coupon clippers, homosexuals, women or men? When I was a teenager I had a stack of comic books picturing the Japanese with fangs. Bigotry in the name of nationalism is still bigotry. So ...
... defiance in the wake of grievance and complaint. Job earlier has spoken of the bitterness of his soul:Therefore I will not restrain my mouth;I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. (7:11)I loathe my life; I will give free utterance to my complaint. (10:1) Here Job is correlating his own bitter defiance with the unrelenting pressure of God's hand upon his life. Job insists on seeking a resolution for his complaint not through the traditional religious practices ...
... 't matter. We need to skim such ladies magazines as Glamour, Vogue, Vanity, and Better Homes and Gardens to see what I mean. The result? We fix in our minds a view of womanhood that is both false and unreachable. So women are frustrated, angry, depressed, self-loathing, and anorexic. The Bible tells us of Satan, the deceiver. He didn't like what God made him to be -- a creature, limited, under God's authority. So he rebelled, trying to be someone he was not. And when I do not accept myself, my limits, I ...
... an apology will embarrass us. In short, we act just like the enemies of God, the very people we condemn. Into the midst of this strides the Ambassador of God, bearing good news: We are to be set free, released from chains and darkness, self-loathing and fear. A prisoner exchange has been arranged, and we are all to be traded for one man. In times of war, there are occasionally these exchanges of prisoners. But usually, some particular prisoner has exceptional value to his own side, and so his government ...
... ill-timed. Nor were they particularly surprised when Thomas did not join them after the Crucifixion. They could not blame him for having deserted Jesus: that they had all done. Ironically, Judas was the only one who had the courage and the required self-loathing to follow Jesus into death. As for Thomas, he might be somewhere, anywhere, contemplating the same tragic course. He had never been a gracious companion to the others. It was not surprising that he should not be seeking their company now. Then Jesus ...
... 's pleasures don't last long and the cost is unbelievably high. The Bible solemnly warns that "the wages of sin is death." When we are tempted to sin, that sin is loved, enticing, alluring, attractive, and oh, so desirable! But when sin is done it is loathed, despised, and deeply regretted. Think of those persons who are enticed into using drugs. They are promised a "high," they will be part of the "in crowd," and all their worries will take wings. But once begun, the "high" soon results in an all-time "low ...
... no motor dysfunctions, my good doctor. He is well-coordinated and suffers naught," the clergyman pointed out. "Is there a genesis for his symptoms, a time when something important occurred that may be causing so sad a set of symptoms?" Holmes inquired. "He has been loath to address his languor or our concern. But on one occasion he mentioned something about a time device of some sort." "A clock? How odd," I opined. "Oh, no. Dr. Watson, a device that moves people through time. H. G. Wells has come upon such ...
... brother and sister, our parents and the spouses of our parents. And today those memories all come together for us. We are not quite certain what to do with those memories, for they are dear to us still. We are not ready to discard them and yet we are loath to cling to them too closely, lest they hold us back from participating in your future. Fortunately, we can look to the Bible for help. It is the biblical word that gives us permission to cherish those memories and to use them. For as the stories of the ...
... After the revelation of his name, God elaborates the mission of his newly chosen instruments. Moses is to lead his fellow Hebrews to the land of the Canaanites, and his invitation will be heeded by the people. The Pharaoh’s reaction will not be favorable; loathe to lose these valuable slaves, he will loudly protest their departure. Only the tempering hand of Yahweh will eventually urge him to face them. Nor are Yahweh’s people to leave the land empty-handed. Their long years of slavery are to be repaid ...
... depths, even when we feel abandoned and helpless, He is already there. He is always there - to let us know we are not alone, and to help us rise again. Amen. Pastoral Prayer Most Holy and Gracious God, who is always ready to hear our prayers, even when we are loathe to say them, we pray for those who are walking through the deserts of doubt and despair today: We pray for those who seek the oasis of new life, and who thirst for the living waters of faith. They know where they have been but don't know where ...
... war. The Government will not assail you. You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. You have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the Government, while I shall have the most solemn one to "preserve, protect, and defend it." I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and ...
... thirty pieces of silver. But it was too late. Jesus was in the hands of his enemies and the cross was inevitable. When we survey the damage done by our failure to follow Jesus, one reaction is remorse. We are appalled at the enormity of our crime, and we loathe ourselves for what we have done. When I was a child, I had a cousin who occasionally came with her parents to our home for a visit. She was very pretty girl with long curls. She was physically attractive in every way except she could not play with us ...