Welcome to the InTouch podcast with Charles Stanley for Tuesday, July 1st. Attitudes about life often have their roots in our past. Today's podcast challenges you to examine the origins of damaging emotions and learn how to let God deal with them. This passage of scripture that we're going to read If you read it. and really mean what you read, it's going to take courage.
And I'm going to explain to you why it's going to take courage.
So I want you to turn to the 139th Psalm. Listen to what this psalmist is saying. This is David. Oh Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up.
You understand my thought from afar. you scrutinize my path and my lying down. And are intimately acquainted with all my ways, even before there is a word. On my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it all. That is, He is omniscient.
He knows everything.
Now, he starts off the chapter of that, but go to the last two verses now, verses 23. and 24. And listen to what he says here. Search me, O God. knowing him like he does.
Search me, O God, and know my heart. Yeah. Primey. and know my anxious thoughts. And see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.
That is, see if you find anything in me that's hurtful to me. That's damaging to me. That's uh That's a hindrance to me. Then he says, And lead me in the everlasting way.
Now, I want us to think about some things very serious here. And the statement here is very clear, and that is, it is a request. The request is, Lord, I want you to look at me. I want you to examine me. I want you to show me if there's anything in me that's not right, and then lead me out of that.
Show me the way I ought to walk. And what I want you to see today is this: I want you to see how very important it is to look within yourself. And pray this prayer genuinely, consciously. Deliberately, willfully, sincerely, Lord, show me myself. Help me to see myself.
Because you see, if you have a misconception of yourself, let's say, for example, that you think you are really somebody. But the truth is you're just prodful and cocky and egotistical.
Well, why do you turn people off?
Well, I mean, after all, as fine as I am, why would I turn them off? Then you blame them. You can get so messed up in your life. with wrong thinking. Because you're not willing to deal with it from God's perspective.
So, first of all, I have to be willing to look inside. Very important. And most people don't want to do that. They don't like what they think they may see, and that probably would be true. Then, of course.
You have to be honest with yourself.
Now, remember this. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 2: the Holy Spirit is the one who. shows us the truth. He says, No one knows us as the Spirit of God knows us. There isn't anyone who knows you like God knows you.
And that's why he starts this passage off and ends it with the same thing: Lord, you know me. You know my rising up, you know my lying down. No one knows as like he does.
So if I want to know What I'm really like. If I really want to grow in my Christian life, I have to check myself out along the way.
Somebody says I said, well, how long have you been a Christian? Oh, I got saved about 40 years ago. Or what you've been doing.
Well, you know, I've been saved for 40 years. But what else?
Well, what else is there? Then you're talking to someone who knows very, very little about the Christian life. and will never be the person God wants him to be.
Now It takes a willingness to look. And It takes the necessity of being honest about what you see. It's real easy for me to blame someone else because of what I feel. But if I look on the inside and I'm honest with myself, I'd have to say, God. Yeah, that is what I think.
Yeah, I am jealous. Yeah, I am. Yeah, Lord, I'm still holding it against them. I've said I'm not. I've told you I wasn't, but the truth is I am.
One thing about, listen, you can't fool God. He already knows it all. This whole psalm is all about his omniscience, his perfect knowledge and understanding of who you are, his perfect knowledge of what's going on inside of you. He knows every moment. What's going on inside of us?
What motivates us? Why do we get upset? Why do we get ticked off easy with somebody else? Or why do we have the prejudices we have? He knows all about all of that.
It takes honesty. And as long as I'm dishonest about it, you see when the Spirit of God shows something in your life that's there, and you say, well. Nobody's perfect. This is not about being perfect. It's about being honest.
It's about being willing, listen, not to agree with someone else, it's about being willing to agree with God. Got to be honest. Willing to look inside, willing to be honest, and. Willing, watch this now. to be thorough about it.
So it takes time.
Now here's the reason it takes time. Listen carefully. First of all, You didn't grow up overnight. Every single day you added something to your thoughts. Every single day, your emotions, you added emotions.
Things you heard, things you saw, people you related to, all that's there.
So, in order for God To do exactly what you ask, Lord, show me myself as I really am. then what does he do? He starts with a little bit. As much as you can handle. And then as you handle that, Little by little, over time, he goes deeper and deeper and deeper.
till he gets to where he wants to go with you at that moment in your life. Why does he do it that way? Because he knows Some people could not handle. What he has to show them. Feelings and attitudes and beliefs can get all twisted, and so it takes.
Time for all that to happen. You remember he says, scrutinize my pathway. And the fourth thing is required is courage. Because it's not easy. It takes courage, and I've said it before.
us to stop and say, All right, Lord. Let me have it like it is Because listen carefully, you will never become the person God wants you to be. until you allow God to show you the person you are. And the things that He lovingly desires to correct in your life. In order that you can enjoy him.
And there are a lot of people who are standing up straight. Physically, we're all bent over emotionally. because they're unwilling to deal with the things that absolutely destroy a person's life. Unless these things are dealt with, They will take a physical toll on a person's life. And I have watched this.
Of people I have known who have grown bitter in life, and everything else was right. They've grown bitter in life. I've watched it happen. And I've watched what happens. Before They look like that.
Next thing you know, it's a little bit of this, a little bit of this, and a little bit of this, and then they don't get around very well. You know what? Though it's like acid. It's like poison in a person's life. It is doing its awful destruction.
And whereas for the most part it may not be seen on the outside, but a lot, listen, a long time before this starts. is already eating away in a person's life. It takes courage. And he says to scrutinize us. And let me just say this, until you're willing to do it, You'll just live with it.
And it'll take its toll. And you'll wonder why I was not ever really and truly happy in my life. Where's this joy all these preachers are talking about? Why don't I have that? Because You've got to deal with this.
Now When I say it takes courage, it does. We resisted for two primary reasons. One of them is that we resist doing this for the simple reason Um We fear what we'll learn about ourselves.
Now, I'm going to give you a little personal testimony in a moment. Think about this. If a person feels guilty about something, They don't really want to deal with that. And you see, what happens is, guilt is one of the heaviest substances there is. It weighs.
It it it weighs and it weighs in a person's life. Bitterness and resentment and unforgiveness and all that stuff, it has weight to it. And until you're willing to deal with these things, You're never going to be the person God wants you to be.
Now watch this. Listen carefully. Nor can you give yourself to someone else totally and completely. And this is why it's so very important. Before a person gets married, and most people.
It doesn't happen because I didn't even learn about the truth till years later. But you just think about this. When you walk into a marriage, And you've got all this stuff back there. in here. And the other person has all their stuff.
Is it any wonder there are so many divorces? Is it any wonder there are so many people who can't live together? Because Even if one person deals with it. and the other one doesn't. Then it takes two.
One person can't do it by themselves.
So let's just think about it for a moment. And let me give you a little personal testimony. There was a time years ago in my life when I looked around and everything around me was right. Everything was good. I remember thinking, Lord, why do I feel the way I feel?
When everything around me is so good, I've got friends, I have enough to get whatever I need in life. have a wonderful church and and uh Everything everything was so right. But when I'd get out and to pray, it's like something wasn't right. And I'd tell God all about it and Tell him to show me what it is and But I wasn't really willing and ready or even knowing how to deal with it at the time. And so I just kept thinking.
What's wrong? In other words, I'm preaching the gospel and people are being saved and lives are being changed and all these things are going on. What about me? And I can remember thinking, well, Lord, they're getting victory. And I'm the guy who told them they got it and I don't have it.
What's what's going on inside of me? And it got so bad. Out of my desperation, For some reason, by the Holy Spirit, I'm sure, I decided. to stop looking around. and the sad look right here.
Now when you first look It's real easy to explain some things away. But I can remember. exactly where I was Exactly what was going on and about the time of the evening. And I was crying out to God out of desperation, Lord.
Something's not right. Show me what it is on the inside of me that's not right, because everything around me. Is so right and so good, and you bless me. What's going on inside of me? And I can tell you When God opened my eyes to help me to see.
It scared me. And the reason it scared me was My first thought was, I don't know how to deal with that. And so I wanted to shut it down, but it was too late. I had seen it. I'd felt it.
I knew it had to be dealt with. I didn't know exactly how to deal with it. but I knew it was absolutely necessary. If that day or that night I'd have said, Well, I can't deal with that, forget that. And God would not have worked in my life as He has.
I remember. Thinking, God, how do I deal with this?
Well, part of what I saw was Looking back and And you see, as we said, it doesn't happen overnight because I've been praying, God, what's going on? What's happening here? But that night I got a very deep, close look. And he showed me that My stepfather and my mother My father died when I was about nine months of age, and she married again when I was nine years of age. And my stepfather and I didn't get along at all.
He was very, very unkind and ugly toward my mother. and physically bad toward my mother. And I had a lot of resentment. and a lot of hostility within me. A lot of anger.
And so I could justify that.
Well, I was just doing what I needed to do. I just had the attitude that I needed to have to protect my mom. But you know what? That didn't convince God of anything. He just showed me what was on the inside.
The thing that scared me was That I thought, well, God, how could you love me? seeing all this stuff in me, Not that I asked for it, but it was there. And it was doing its work on me.
So I had to decide how to handle this. And I'll have to admit I put it off for several months. But you know what? It was still going on inside of me, and God wouldn't let me get by with it. I knew I had to deal with it.
And I had to go see my stepfather, and Apollo, this is what God said. You apologize to him. For your attitude toward him and blame him for nothing. You apologize for your attitude. and your anger and your hostility.
and a little bit of bitterness within you. You apologize to him. Not for what he did. You apologize to him for your attitude toward him.
Well, that took me a little while. And I'll have to admit, Every time I'd get up to preach on Sunday, There was my stepfather. I knew I had to deal with him.
So how'd he go to see him? I went to see him and I sat down across the table. And I said, John? The reason I've come to see you and mom is, and then I began to explain. And he wanted to cover it all up.
I said, no. Mm-mm. No, it's true. That's the feelings I've had. And I need to ask you to forgive me for them.
When I walked away from there. It's like God had pulled the plug on all of that emotional stuff. deep down inside of me. And from that time on, or somewhere around that time. I can look back and realize that I began to grow in my own relationship to the Lord, my own understanding.
And God began to do things in my life that I would never have dreamed of. He began to work in me and through me in ways that I would never have expected. But before he could do it, He had to claim me up.
Now, if it had been some sin that I could put my finger on. Like, well, I did this to him or to her or to somebody. That would have been a little easier. But you see, I can see an action. I can identify that.
But when it's emotional, And it's way down inside. from the very beginning. rejection All the stuff that went on. It doesn't come out easy, it doesn't come out quickly. But God will set you free If you're willing.
And when I look at this passage of Scripture, And I see what he says. Search me, O God, and know my heart. I think one of the things I had to deal with is the fear. Of thinking God wouldn't love me because of what He saw when the truth is. He loves you no matter what.
Every once in a while, we need a spiritual inventory. And here's what will happen. If there are things in your life that are not right, and you genuinely want him to make em right, He'll start the process. It is a process. It's not instant.
It's not a quick trip. It is something that God begins. and over a period of time. He takes it out. There is no other way to be genuinely free.
Until you deal With what's on the inside, you can go through life. blaming other people. blaming society, blaming circumstances, blaming, blaming, blaming. But until you look inside, Never be free. Because remember this.
You're not not responsible for other people's actions. There are always going to be people who love you or people who don't like you. But as long as you get this relationship right, It's amazing how you can just forgive. and forgive and forgive. and forgive, and it doesn't even register.
When somebody wrongs you, Somebody says something ugly about you or mistreats you, it doesn't even register. You can forgive why. because you have an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ, and that's what He did. You don't have any blockers. You're free.
to be the person God wants you to be, and that's my prayer for you. Thank you for listening to part two of Your Spiritual Growth. For more inspirational messages like this one, visit our online 24-7 station. And if you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley or InTouch Ministries, stop by intouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.
