Codependency is a state in which when one person enables another person’s destructive behavior.  The person with destructive behavior relies excessively on their enabler for emotional or psychological support. Proverbs 24:24 warns those who enable sin: Whoever says to the wicked, “You are in the right,” will be cursed by peoples, abhorred by nations Hopefortheheart.org…

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Matthew 18:15-18 provides a process for reconciliation when: there is sin to which there has been no repentance the sin was witnessed by others, Deuteronomy 19:15, Numbers 35:30, 1 Timothy 5:19, 2 Corinthians 13:1, Matthew 18:16 The spirit of reconciliation is meek and gentle.  Consider Galatians 6:1 and 2 Timothy 2:24-25: Galatians 6:1  Brothers, if anyone is…

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Remember the promises of the “Body for Life” program?  O the long list of exercise programs and personal makeovers that indicate that they have the solution for creating a new, permanent you.   The good news is that in Christ, you already possess a new you.  2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he…

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“See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elementary principles of the world, and not according to Christ.” (Colossians 2:8) Day-to-day conversations with unbelievers and believers alike often turn “philosophical” – that is, they examine our purpose and existence.  Colossians 2:8 sets…

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Generally, people tend to define freedom as “being free to do whatever I want”.   This sounds quite plausible on its face. However, even God is not completely free under this definition.  For example, it is impossible for God to lie (Hebrews 6:18), so this is an invalid definition. The accurate definition of freedom is “being…

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  While Scripture consistently teaches people to humble themselves (2 Chronicles 7:14, Luke 14:11, James 4:6, James 4:10, etc.), we also find God lifting up and praising people in His Word.  For example, God’s Word takes an entire chapter to praise the woman of Proverbs 31:1-31, culminating in this phrase:  “Honor her for all that her…

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God’s Word is “sufficiently perspicuous [clear] to be understood by the people, in the use of ordinary means and by the aid of the Holy Spirit in all things necessary to faith or practice, without the need of any infallible interpreter.”  (clarification mine) The clarity of Scripture has also been referred to as the “perspicuity”…

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Defining Wisdom The following is a good definition of wisdom: “the soundness of an action or decision with regard to the application of experience, knowledge, and good judgment” (Oxford Dictionaries) That said, the following definition adds deeper insight: wisdom is “knowing the end of a thing from the beginning” While it is impossible (for humans)…

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