The Madness of Unforgiveness: Walking It Out
A Moment of Hope
by David Chadwick How do we forgive? What does it look like practically to walk this out? We know that forgiveness is the act of releasing offenders and offenses back to God and receiving his compassion for the pain we experienced. We also know that forgiveness is a requirement for followers of Jesus. We know that our source of forgiveness is Jesus and without him, we can’t forgive. We know that not forgiving can lead to bitterness and slander. But how do we forgive? How do we become better at walking out forgiveness? Always remember this one, great, biblical truth: God is perfect justice....
info_outline
The Madness of Unforgiveness: Avoiding Slander
A Moment of Hope
by David Chadwick Forgiveness can only truly happen when Jesus is your source. Without his strength, bitterness will inevitably take root in your heart, defiling your soul. Have you ever thought about what springs up from a bitter heart? Slander! When given the chance to speak ill of someone who has hurt you, we seldom turn down the chance, do we? We all struggle with this temptation. Somehow, we think we are punishing them for what they did to us and at the end of the day, we don’t want our enemy to be admired. Do you know why I think it is so easy to keep slandering someone? Because they...
info_outline
The Madness of Unforgiveness: The Result of Unforgiveness
A Moment of Hope
by David Chadwick Forgiveness. Releasing offenders and offenses to Jesus so you can be made whole. This is something that can only happen when Jesus is your source of life. Unfortunately, many people choose to remain embittered and trapped by unforgiveness. What is the result of unforgiveness? Bitterness. As you remain in unforgiveness, bitterness takes root (Hebrews 12:15). Bitterness corrodes your soul and defiles those around you. It’s a deep, dark prison from which no one can escape without learning to walk out forgiveness. As you heard me mention the other day, refusing to forgive and...
info_outline
The Madness of Unforgiveness: What is the Source of Forgiveness?
A Moment of Hope
by David Chadwick Yesterday, we learned about what forgiveness is - releasing any offenders and offenses back to Jesus, knowing that bitterness will only hold you captive and destroy your life. But what is the source of forgiveness? Well, it’s supernatural. A strength that can only come from a love outside of us. Within ourselves, in our own strength, it’s impossible to forgive. We can only love because Jesus first loved us (1 John 4:19). We can only forgive because God first forgave us. God’s forgiveness is the source. Our ability to forgive is rooted in God’s forgiveness of us and...
info_outline
The Madness of Unforgiveness: What is Forgiveness?
A Moment of Hope
by David Chadwick What is forgiveness? Well, if we look at the dictionary definition from Merriam Webster, it means “to cease to feel resentment against an offender.” Biblically, forgiveness releases someone of the debt once owed. It’s a significant display of love, ultimately mirroring what was displayed to us by Jesus. Forgiveness is extraordinarily powerful and, like grace, sets apart the Christian faith from all the other world religions. On a practical level, if bitterness can be described as “drinking poison and expecting the person who hurt you to die,” then forgiveness is the...
info_outline
Hidden Insights into God’s Word: Cornelius the Gentile
A Moment of Hope
by David Chadwick Today is our fifth and final hidden insight into God’s Word. Acts 10 recounts the story of a man named Cornelius. In his story, you will find a very special hidden insight into God’s Word. While not often referenced as a commonly known key biblical figure, Cornelius might be one of the most important biblical characters in Scripture. Cornelius was a Gentile - a Roman centurion and devout follower of the Jewish God. When Peter was struggling with whether the gospel was for Gentiles, or only for Jews, he visited Cornelius. Think about the significance of this for a moment....
info_outline
Hidden Insights into God’s Word: The Book of Wars
A Moment of Hope
by David Chadwick How many of you have ever played a game of hide and seek? It is one of the most commonly played childhood games. There’s something exhilarating about little kids counting to twenty and then searching around to find their hiding friends. I believe that God, the Creator of the universe, knows the beauty and wonder of childlike faith and appreciates hiding things for us to search out. Numbers 21:14 says, “Therefore it is said in the Book of the Wars of the Lord, ‘Waheb in Suphah, and the valleys of the Arnon…’” This verse is where you will find today’s hidden...
info_outline
Hidden Insights into God’s Word: The Book of Jashar
A Moment of Hope
by David Chadwick Proverbs 25:2 says “It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out.” Those close to the heart of God seek to know him deeply. To understand his heart. To be a student of his ways. Joshua 10:12,13 is where you will find our hidden insight today. It’s the passage where Joshua spoke to the Lord and God made the sun and the moon stand still. As you keep reading, you will see the book of Jasher referenced in verse 13. What is the book of Jasher, you might ask? It’s today’s hidden insight. The book of Jasher is also mentioned in 2...
info_outline
Hidden Insights into God’s Word: Men of Courage
A Moment of Hope
by David Chadwick In a world full of cowards, God’s courageous ones stand out! We are drawn to men and women of courage. Today, let’s talk about what it means to be a man of courage. There are so many stories that give us keys and principles for how to live godly, courageous lives. If yesterday’s insight displayed what happens when faithless, wimpy men release fear and lack of courage over situations, today’s insight will show what happens when men of courage step up to the plate. The ten spies were so scared of the giants and of the walled cities in the land. They were told the land...
info_outline
Hidden Insights into God’s Word: Men of Cowardice
A Moment of Hope
by David Chadwick As many of you know, I love to seek out the hidden places of God’s Word. To find the concealed things that God has given us and to search out the deeper meaning in it all. I have five hidden insights into God’s Word that I want to share with you this week. This one is from Numbers 13:4-5,7, and 9-15. Have you ever heard of Shammua, Shaphat, Igal, Palit, Gaddiel, Gaddi, Ammiel, Shethur, Nahb, and Gruel? Do you know the unique parts they played in God’s overall story? Do you recognize any of their names? No? Guess why not? Because they were all cowards! Cowards of the...
info_outlineby Marilynn Chadwick
My dad honored my mom, but I also saw how my mom honored my dad. Looking back, I can see some of the reasons their marriage remained strong. Sometimes when we’re in the middle of daily life as it’s happening, we don’t fully realize the truly heroic nature of the people right in front of us. It all seems normal at the time. So it’s been special for me to take a look back at the life my parents lived and the legacy they left me. As I reflect, I feel enormous gratitude for their sacrifices that paved the way for the life I have today.
We’ve been talking about the importance of how to create a legacy of honor. So it has helped me to think back about Mom and Dad’s life together with honor as my lens. How did Mom honor Dad? What are some ways they honored each other? And what kind of legacy have they left to those who come behind them?
During our growing up years, Mom was Dad’s helper in the best sense of the word. She was a true ezer, the Hebrew word for “helper” as described in the Creation account (Genesis 2:18). Mom was strong and kind. And she was his rock of support. I remember how Mom built Dad up. She believed in him.
Mom had stopped teaching school when the kids came—family was everything to Mom. She especially loved Dad’s parents and his three sisters and their families. She even took an interest in Dad’s sales force—“Daddy’s men,” as she called them—and sometimes we got together with their families.
Dad’s job as a regional sales manager with a large company required quite a bit of travel. Mom never complained. She simply kept life going for her three daughters. But invariably, most of our life crises seemed to hit when Daddy was away. Like the time I tried to do a cannonball dive into three feet of water and didn’t tuck quite fast enough, hitting my head on the bottom of the swimming pool. After Mom and I took a fast trip to the emergency room and 27 stitches later, Dad finally made it home.
Recently, when I asked Daddy to describe some ways Mom had honored him, he pointed back to that incident. “I never worried when I was traveling,” he said. “Even when you cracked your head open, I could always count on your mom to handle things. She was always so calm.”
Daddy’s right. Mom honored him by her strong resolve and her ability to keep the family on track in his absence. The popular World War II expression “Keep Calm and Carry On” was originally created to inspire the Brits to keep their courage during the war. And I think it described my mom quite well. It is also a characteristic of honor we can all embrace.
_____________
This series is adapted from the book, 8 Great Ways to Honor Your Husband by Marilynn Chadwick. To download your free PDF copy of this book, please visit our website by clicking here!