When our Conscience Turns Rogue - The God of all Comfort

—When our conscience turns rogue

• Andrew Fountain – June 18, 2017

 
 
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Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. (2 Cor 1:2–4)

Self-Compassion

• The old thinking: self-esteem
• Only a short-term benefit
• Self-compassion works much better
• You end up
  • more resillent to problems
  • more compassion for others
  • more productive

Give Yourself a Break:

Turning Your Inner Critic into a Compassionate Friend

by Kim Fredrickson

Buddhist Countries

The top three

Are Buddhists Violent?

“What, then, to make of this… spiral downward into chaos and confrontation? Of course, to expect ordinary people who happen to be Buddhists to be moral supermen is absurd. All peoples are violent…”

• Forbes magazine

Guilt and Shame

The law on our hearts: Rom 2

14. For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires…
15. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them

Guilt and Shame

Faulty laws

“I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth. (Acts 26:9)

“But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? You observe days and months and seasons and years!” (Gal 4:9–10)

1 Cor 8:10–12

Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ.

1 Timothy 4

2. …through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared,
3. who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.
4. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving,

Psalm 103

13. As a father has compassion on his children,
    so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
14. for he knows how we are formed,
    he remembers that we are dust.
15. The life of mortals is like grass,
    they flourish like a flower of the field;

Psalm 103 cont’d

16. the wind blows over it and it is gone,
    and its place remembers it no more.
17. But from everlasting to everlasting
    the Lord’s love is with those who fear him,
    and his righteousness with their children’s children—
18. with those who keep his covenant
    and remember to obey his precepts.

Arguments used against self-compassion

1. It’s self-pity
   • No, that’s something very different
2. It’s non-motivational
   • In fact it is self-criticism that destroys motivation
3. It doesn’t get the best out of us
   • Actually it does, and we damage ourselves with self-criticism

Ephesians 4:25–32

Do not let any unwholesome talk [to yourself] come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen [including yourself]. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness [against yourself], rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another [and to yourself], forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. (2 Cor 1:2–4)