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N E I L   A N D E R S O N   D A I L Y   D E V O T I O N A L
             from Freedom in Christ Ministries

October 24

RESOLVING A PAST CONFLICT

Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth; give me
an undivided heart (Psalm 86:11 NIV).

You have no control over a primary emotion, developed in the
past, when it is triggered. It doesn't do any good to feel guilty
about something over which you have no control. But you can seek
to resolve the past conflict and you can immediately evaluate the
present circumstance to bring it into perspective. For example,
suppose you meet a man named Bill. He looks like the Bill who
used to beat you up as a child. Even though he's not the same
person, your primary emotion initially jumps to a 3 on a scale of
10. But you mentally tell yourself that this is not the same
Bill, and you think yourself down to a 2.

You have not only used this process yourself thousands of times,
but you have also helped others do it. Someone flies off the
handle, so you grab him and tell him to get hold of himself. You
are helping that person gain control of himself by making him
think. Notice how this works the next time you're watching a
football game and tempers explode on the field. One player grabs
an enraged teammate and says, "Listen, Meathead, you're going to
cost us a 15-yard penalty and perhaps the game if you don't
simmer down." The player will see the conflict in perspective and
will get himself under control by thinking clearly.

Some Christians assert that the past isn't important. If you're
talking about truth, then I would agree. The truth is
truth--past, present and future. But if you are talking about
what people are actually experiencing, I would have to disagree.
Most of the people who argue that the past isn't important have
major unresolved conflicts from the past which they are not
allowing to surface. They are attempting to handle themselves by
living in denial. Either that or they are extremely fortunate to
have a conflict-free past. Those who have had major traumas and
have learned to resolve them in Christ know how devastating the
past can be to present reality.

Lord, I choose not to live in denial. Give me the grace to look
at my past and the courage to face the truth.


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This daily devotional is published and distributed by
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