![\"Do](\"http:\/\/biblicalcounselinginsights.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/Do-I-Accept-What-He-Has-to-Offer-2-300x217.jpeg\")
Let me share this letter from a woman to her brother that she recently shared with me:<\/p>\nLet me share this letter from a woman to her brother that she recently shared with me:<\/p>\n
Dear Bill:<\/p>\n
I don’t have to remind you of the problem Mom always was. How well you knew her self-pity, sarcasm, jealousy, suspicion, injustice, self-righteousness, and nagging that ended only in long periods of sulky silence. You rebelled openly, but my rebellion was silent. I buried the bitterness and resentment, but I buried them in the wrong place. I hid them in my heart and they have come back to torment me. Even after she died, I blamed Mom for making me the wretched person I was.<\/p>\n
Things got worse after Ken and I married. I no longer had the moral support of family and friends to bolster my attitude. I was suddenly surrounded by new people, and a new set of circumstances. In them, I discovered a new measurement of myself, and in the balance I was found wanting. About a year ago, a series of events brought me to a long conversation with the Lord. When it was over, I realized I couldn’t go through life blaming someone else for what I was. The trouble was, I didn’t know what to do, I only added confusion to resentment.<\/p>\n
Two weeks ago, Dr. Henry Brandt came to speak in our town. Talking to him privately, I told him in more detail what I’ve told you. He said I needed to do two things: 1) forgive Mom, and 2) pray for grace to face the kind of people to whom I react bitterly. He said that if the memories of Mom stir rancor in me, it is because rancor is in me. \u201cFor from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts\u2026wickedness\u2026pride and foolishness\u201d<\/em> (Mark 7:21-22).<\/p>\n My problem, then, turns out to be not Mom, but me and my relationship with the Lord. Because Christ offers peace and joy in place of bitterness and anger, the question boils down to this: Do I accept what He has to offer, or don’t I?<\/p>\n Bill, I have made my choice, but much still remains to be worked out in my daily life. Frankly, I’m a little scared. However, although I know a lot about my own weakness, I also know something about the strength of the Lord.<\/p>\n All through the years, our problem of rebelliousness and hatred has been the same. The answer is the same, too. I want you to enjoy the wonderful peace that has come into my life through Christ.<\/p>\n Your sis,<\/p>\n Linda<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The names and certain details in this true case history have been changed to protect each person\u2019s identity and privacy.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Let me share this letter from a woman to her brother that she recently shared with me: Dear Bill: I don’t have to remind you of the problem Mom always was. How well you knew her self-pity, sarcasm, jealousy, suspicion, injustice, self-righteousness, and nagging that ended only in long periods of sulky silence. You rebelled […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":""},"categories":[27,30,13,5,171,29],"tags":[185,40,198,197],"author_meta":{"display_name":"helmut","author_link":"https:\/\/biblicalcounselinginsights.com\/author\/helmut\/"},"featured_img":null,"coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["Dealing with Sin<\/a>","Extending Forgiveness<\/a>","Getting Right with God<\/a>","Inner Peace<\/a>","Life Transformation<\/a>","Resolving Anger Problems<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Dealing with Sin<\/span>","Extending Forgiveness<\/span>","Getting Right with God<\/span>","Inner Peace<\/span>","Life Transformation<\/span>","Resolving Anger Problems<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["dealing with anger<\/a>","forgiveness<\/a>","new life in Christ<\/a>","resentment<\/a>"],"unlinked":["dealing with anger<\/span>","forgiveness<\/span>","new life in Christ<\/span>","resentment<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"0","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 11 years ago","modified":"Updated 6 years ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on February 24, 2011","modified":"Updated on October 28, 2015"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on February 24, 2011 12:45 pm","modified":"Updated on October 28, 2015 10:14 am"},"featured_img_caption":"","featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"helmut","author_link":"https:\/\/biblicalcounselinginsights.com\/author\/helmut\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblicalcounselinginsights.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1940"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblicalcounselinginsights.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblicalcounselinginsights.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblicalcounselinginsights.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblicalcounselinginsights.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1940"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/biblicalcounselinginsights.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1940\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6411,"href":"https:\/\/biblicalcounselinginsights.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1940\/revisions\/6411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblicalcounselinginsights.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblicalcounselinginsights.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblicalcounselinginsights.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}