A word from heaven.

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The Habit of Tracing Back

Wow, this is a huge topic and people can write a book on this but i'll attempt to make it understandable here.

There are many times i asked myself, why am i like that. Why am i angry when people do certain things to me. Why am i frustrated when i don't get my way. Why am i so scared of being left out in a clique. Why do i want to succeed so much. I really want to change out of them so many a times i just physco-ed myself to say i am ok, relax, don't be angry etc. But that was dealing with the fall out of the sin within me, it was not solving anything or growing myself to be more christ like.

As i started to trace things back, it became apparent that a huge part of who i am is a direct or indirect result of my past experiences which have moulded me in good ways and bad ways. And if i want to change a particular area/value system/character in me permanently, i need to start tracing back. The process is actually quite fun.

I learnt that made many conclusions and built in many mechanism in my life as a result of my past experiences. Some of them are good, some of them grey and some outrightly foolish. The following are some main catagories from which people of my age (22) may be moulded by

1) Family upbringing
2) Family culture
3) Examples set by parents or siblings
4) Expectation on you by others
5) Social life from primary school onwards (being left out or bullied etc)
6) Hurtful experiences/ relationships
7) They can be recent events as well. God may bring us through certain experiences that will surface weaknesses in our lives.

After tracing and identifying the root cause and issue, you'll realise that many conclusions and perceptions as a result of all those things will be vastly different if you have applied biblical principles to them or when u have a more sound mind. From here, you'll have to make a decision or resolve to draw new lessons and conclusions from these experiences. This is real change yeah.

Many a times, we continue to carry the baggage of the past even after we come to know Christ. Being invovled in many church activities does nothing to help you release these baggages unless you are willing to revisit them and deal with them as God shows them to you. These baggages may not seem like a heavy load now but when you do not deal with them, you know that one day, they will either manifest within you or you'll continue to suffer the consequences of these sins.

Someone once asked me before, do we have to repent for each of the sins we committed before we came to know chirst. My question back to him was: Did those sins in one way or another changed your perception of things, your value system, your character, how you view things etc.

You see, the fact that you are not struggling with that experience now does not mean you have not been already damaged by that experience. Learn to draw lessons from there and repair the damage done to you. That's when we're a new creation yeah? Take off the old you before you put on the new you yeah?

Shepherds, it may be helpful to go through with your sheep this tracing process and to help them make sense of things.

Regards,

jie hui

The kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.

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Thursday, January 15, 2009