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Hello, you’ve been learning the importance of walking in love and forgiveness.
Sounds simple, right? But if it were so simple why are so many  suffering?
God doesn’t want there to be strife and discord in any of our relationships. Of course, there will be disagreements, but those disagreements can be void of anger and hurt.
You might be thinking, “Is that really possible?”
Yes, it is possible...when we do things God’s way.
But let’s face it, if you’re walking in His commands and in the love of God, the enemy will stop at nothing to try and get you out of love by causing strife.
Strife is a deadly poison. And it must be fought against and stopped if you are to enjoy days of heaven on earth. |
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Maybe you don’t feel you have a chance to win this fight. You might say, “I have a history of family fights and broken relationships. Strife is ‘normal’ in our family.”
That might be a fact, but with God you can go a different direction and conquer strife by starting a new legacy of love.
When Brother Copeland was just a boy, he had a tremendous temper. Just the simplest disagreement would make him “fightin’ mad”. |
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That carried over into his married life where instead of fighting with fists, he would use his words. He had become very critical of Gloria and the kids and would often hurt them with his  .
But when he learned to thank God instead of giving place to anger, things began to change. He learned to use his words to bless and build up his family instead of tearing them down. He started to build his own legacy of love in his family. |
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What Kenneth discovered were several keys from 1 Corinthians 13:5 that he called “strife killers”. Of course, the entire chapter of 1 Corinthians 13 is a guidepost for walking in love, but verse 5 specifically gave Kenneth several keys he could act on to remedy his relationship.
“…Love (God’s love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking...” (AMPC).
Even though “fighting for our rights” and “self-seeking” are common themes in our culture today, |
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the reality is that striving to get our own selfish way will never make us truly happy. We may find temporary happiness, but it’s short-lived.
What produces lasting joy? When you act unselfishly, when you walk in love and consistently look for ways to be a blessing to others. Not only will those acts produce joy but you will be sowing seeds of  that will reap a harvest.
“...it is not touchy or fretful or resentful…”
When Kenneth asked the Lord for help in changing his pattern of being deeply critical of his family, one of the first areas He focused on was Kenneth’s touchiness. This touchiness fueled the negative words that were damaging inhis family.
One time, Kenneth was on his way to “lambaste” his son John for something he had done that had made him very touchy and angry. But on his way to his son’s room, he stopped and with the Holy Spirit’s help recognized the old pattern that he was falling into.
Thankfully this time, before he entered John’s room, he made an effort to stop and praise the Lord. And after a short time, the anger subsided and he was able to calm down and use words of when he spoke to his son.
Hello, our emotional patterns take time to change, but with the help of the Holy Spirit you can acknowledge them and build new positive patterns.
“...it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong].”
In our past relationship emails, we’ve talked about the importance of forgiveness, but this verse gives another perspective on forgiveness. It says to “pay no attention” to a suffered wrong. That means, before the wrong can get into our hearts, we are to give it no attention AT ALL. Paying no attention as if it never happened! |
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Brother Copeland has come a long way in his love walk and you can too. By continually meditating on God’s Word and acting on it, he is now a magnificent example of how to walk in God’s amazing love.
So , the next time (and there will be a next time) your spouse, child or friend does something you don’t agree with, and you feel anger rising up... stop... take a moment, breathe deeply and begin to praise the Lord. In a short while you will then be able to respond to them in love. |
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| If you practice this every time you are challenged with anger, you can live in “days of Heaven on earth” and start building your own legacy of love. |
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Watch today’s video teaching from Brother Copeland. It is less than 2 minutes long and it will enlighten you to the danger of strife. Watch NOW!
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We love you, God loves you and JESUS IS LORD!
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