Just Continue That Thought...

A thought by H. Norman Wright DMin. from his book, Discovering Who You Are And How God Sees You (p.45). Baker Publishing Group (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Some people handle their past this way, they simply renounce it. Norman says, “Past behaviors and attitudes are simply renounced, but they are not confronted and cleansed. Dr. Lloyd Ogilvie puts this so well when he says: “We try to close the door on what has been, but all we do is suppress the dragons of memory. Every so often they rap persistently and want to come out into our consciousness for a dress rehearsal in preparation for a rerun in a new situation or circumstance. Renunciation of our memories sounds so very pious. The only thing wrong with it is that it doesn’t work.” Norman goes on, “Instead of dragging along the unnecessary baggage of regret, blame, and renunciation, have you ever tried rejoicing over the past? That may sound strange but rejoicing eventually b

A thought by H. Norman Wright DMin. from his book, Discovering Who You Are And How God Sees You (p.41). Baker Publishing Group (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) They really do, don’t they? Norman says, “You have to keep trying hard and expending so much effort before you finally start moving ahead. Excess emotional baggage can bog you down and rob you of blessing. “As a counselor for more than forty years, I have talked with hundreds of people who are struggling with the effects of their past. Some of them are able to break free and move forward with their lives. Some cannot. Some struggle so hard just to make a slight bit of progress. Many are depressed because of what happened to them or because so many years were wasted before they finally came for counseling. I see it in their identity.” He   goes on, “I’ve found that people deal with their emotional baggage in several inappropriate ways. Many of them are riddled with regret over

A thought by H. Norman Wright DMin. from his book, Discovering Who You Are And How God Sees You (p.15). Baker Publishing Group (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) That can be so true, can’t it? Norman says, “Self-esteem increases when we feel good about what we accomplish on the job. It is part of the performance basis for identity. Work becomes more than a source of income, even though some people will cling to the belief that money is really the main motivating factor of a job. But what happens if you are in a job that involves long-term projects with few visible indicators of how you are doing? What if you are in a sales job and each month you start over, having to meet your quota and compete against all the other salespeople? Situations such as these put the self-esteem of some people on a roller-coaster ride every month, offering little stability for their identity.” He goes on, “We are people who tend toward idolatry. We create idols a

A thought by H. Norman Wright DMin. from his book, Discovering Who You Are And How God Sees You.   (p.7). Baker Publishing Group (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) We really do, don’t we? Norman says, “Have you ever been there, in that bottomless pit where you wondered who you were, and no answers came? When it happens, it is frightening. We all need to have some meaning for who we are. “Any of us can suffer a loss of identity, but it is a loss that in most cases is preventable. That’s right: it can be prevented. Many identity losses are felt because the foundation we base our identity on is shaky. “Too often we think that striving for identity is a search done only when we are adolescents. Once we attain adulthood, it should be over, but it isn’t. Think about it for a minute. What do you base your identity on? Don’t you define yourself by your role, or what you do? Don’t you establish who you are by your emotional attachments to other