Handling Hurt Positively

Church and fellowships cannot be more spiritual than the individuals and families that constitute them. God waitly desires a godly home front. These are words of restoration and instruction in righteousness from Family Tents Ministry. May ye be blessed as you listen. [Music] Our Father, we are grateful unto You. We thank You again for another opportunity in Your presence. We bless You for this month of July, the second half of the year that commences with the month of July. We bless You, we appreciate You, we give You glory, we give You honor, we give You praise. We thank You, oh Lord our God, for another marriage forum. We give You praise and glory. We say, "Father, let Your hand be upon us for good again in Jesus' name." Lord, we pray for our brethren and those who have been following us online on this program. Lord, we pray for every home, every marriage. Lord, we are asking, let Your good hand be upon them for good in Jesus' name. Lord God Almighty, we pray that our marriages will be strong, that our marriages will be well in the name of Jesus Christ. Lord, our eyes are on You. Let nothing prevail against Your purposes for our homes in the name of Jesus. Thank You, immortal Father. Blessed be Your holy name, our God. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. Yeah, we want to move on to our program for today, our marriage forum. We want to move on for today and we trust the Lord that He will meet with us as He has always been doing in the name of Jesus Christ. So let's look at one or two things in the scriptures today and which I can best capture as "Handling Hurts Positively." Handling hurts positively. Handling hurts positively. Hurt in a relationship or hurt in any relationship is something that we cannot overrule. We cannot overrule it. We cannot overemphasize that relationships are not made of perfect beings. They are made of individuals that have diverse weaknesses, shortcomings, areas of strength, areas of lapses. So when we talk about marriage relationship, happy homes are usually not made of people that are perfect. No. There's no marriage that involves two perfect people. Marriages involve two imperfect people. So we cannot rule out the matter of hurt in marriage—that spouses may hurt themselves is something that we cannot rule out. It will happen once in a while, and it could happen sometimes more frequently in some homes than some other homes depending on the level of Christian maturity, depending on how much spouses have been able to understand themselves better and better, then depending on sometimes the age of the marriage in terms of how long they've been able to live with themselves and been able to understand and tolerate themselves. But whether in young marriages, middle-age marriages, or older marriages, you cannot rule out this thing that we call hurt. H-U-R-T. We cannot rule it out. You will always find it happening. The wife will hurt the husband, the husband will hurt the wife. Hurt could arise as something coming from relationship to in-laws, relationship to a third party, to any other third party apart from in-laws, friends of the family, on and on. So we cannot rule out the matter of hurt. Hurt is something that I believe that there is no marriage, there is no relationship that will be hearing me right now, if you look back into your own relationship or your own marriage, there had been one time or the other where there had been hurt, either from the wife or from the husband. So the issue of hurt is something that is a commonplace in relationship. It's something that is not unexpected. And if I may quickly say this, one positive way of handling hurt is to expect it. It's to expect it. The Bible says giving room for one another. You give room for it. Don't expect that your spouse will always please you, will always do things that you will always be happy with. Expect, have this attitude that once or twice, expect that the person could offend you, the person could hurt you. I just want to quickly say that as one positive way of handling hurt. So, as I said, we are looking at handling hurt positively. And what I want to actually do today is to take a quick one. We want to ex-ray the family of David. We want to look at how hurt was handled and we want to see what lessons we can pick from this for our own life. The Bible says whatsoever things were written at former time, they were written for our learning. They were written for our learning so that we don't go the way they went, where they did wrong we don't repeat it, and where they did well, we could repeat it. We could copy it and try to see how we behave accordingly where it is positive. And where it is negative, we try to avoid such things. That is why scriptures was written. It was written for our learning. So we want to look at a matter of hurt in the family of David, how it was handled, what lessons we could learn from it, so that we can know how to direct the matter of hurt in our own relationship, particularly how to positively handle it. So we want to look at 2 Samuel. We have 2 Samuel from Chapter 13 through to around Chapter 18, but we may not be reading the whole of that scripture. We'll just try to read the important place, places that are very important for us. The whole story started in 2 Samuel Chapter 13 and the whole issue ended in 2 Samuel Chapter 19. But in between, we can pick our—we'll just pick particular verses where necessary, do some reading where necessary, so that we can follow up with the story. I believe that if you're a Bible student, you'll be familiar with the story of how Tamar, the sister of Absalom, was raped by Amnon. Amnon and Absalom, they are half-brothers—same father but different mother. Tamar and Absalom were same mother. So Tamar is a direct sister of Absalom, while Amnon is the half-brother. In that story in 2 Samuel 13, it says that Tamar, Absalom had this lovely sister whose name was Tamar. And Amnon was distressed over Tamar. He became sick, he was infatuated with lust. And the Bible records that Tamar was actually a virgin. Amnon don't know how to handle it, but he had this friend. That's in the verse 3. He said, "But Amnon had a friend whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimeah, David's brother." Now Jonadab was a very crafty man. And let me just quickly mention this for some of us that are listen to me out there. Please be careful who is your friend. Be careful who is your friend. If you have a crafty friend, one day you too will behave craftily. If you have a dishonest friend, he will influence you to be dishonest. Be careful who is your friend. Be careful about that. Who are you a friend of? Or who are you a friend with? This is very important. So it was this Jonadab that advised Amnon on what to do. So what Amnon did was to behave as if he was sick, behave as if he was sick, and then behave as if he was sick, asked Tamar to come and serve him. And Tamar came naively, innocently to do the serving and then Amnon raped Tamar in the process. And then when all of that happened, the Bible says that—that is around the verse 15. It says, "Then Amnon hated her exceedingly, so that the hatred which he hated her was greater than the love which he had loved her." And Amnon said to her, "Arise, be gone." You can get somebody who said he was sick of love. Having raped the person, now hated her more than the love he had for her. I warn people: be careful about infatuation. True love endures. But this was just a lust. Be careful about some of these things. But that's not where we are going. We just want to look at how to handle hurt. Now what Amnon did was—the verse 16, so she said to him, "No indeed, this is evil. Sending me away is worse than the other that you did to me." But he would not listen to her. Then he said to his servant who attend to him and said to her, "Here, put this woman away from me and bolt the door behind her." Now she had on a robe of many colors, for the king's virgin daughters wore such apparel. And his servant put her out and bolted the door behind her. Then Tamar put ashes on her head, tore her clothes of many colors that was on her, and laid her hand on her head and went away crying bitterly. And Absalom her brother said to her, "Has Amnon your brother been with you? But now, hold your peace, my sister. He's your brother. Do not take this thing to heart." So Tamar remained desolate in his brother Absalom's house. But when the king heard of these things, he was very angry. And Absalom spoke to his brother Amnon neither good nor bad, for Absalom hated Amnon because he had forced his sister Tamar. We are looking at different engagement in this story in chapter 13. What Tamar—what Amnon did to Tamar was a serious hurt. What Amnon did to Tamar was a serious hurt for Tamar. Raping her and sending her off instead of comforting her. And then the next thing was that because of this two times evil that Amnon did to Tamar, the Bible says Absalom hated Amnon because of what he did to Tamar. But you notice that Absalom just kept calm. He told her sister, "Don't lay it to heart. No problem about it. He's our brother now. There's no problem at all." But the truth was that he was also hurt. He was seriously hurt. Because later the Bible records that he hated Amnon for what he did. And the hatred that he had, even though he kept calm, the Bible said he not speak whether good or bad to him. He didn't tell him anything. He was quiet about the hurt as if everything was okay. And it looks like everything was fine. But look at what happened. It came to pass, that's verse 23, after two full years, that Absalom had sheep-shearers in Baal-Hazor, which was near Ephraim. So Absalom invited all the king's sons. Then Absalom came to the king and said, "Kindly note, your servant has shearers. Please let the king and his servant go with your servant." But the king said to Absalom, "No, my son, let us not all go now, lest we be a burden to you." Then he urged him, but he would not go, and he blessed him. Then Absalom said, "If not, please let my brother Amnon go with us." And the king said to him, "Why should he go with you?" But Absalom urged him, so he let Amnon and all the king's sons go with him. Now Absalom had commanded his servants saying, "Watch now, when Amnon's heart is merry with wine, and when I say to you 'Strike Amnon,' then kill him. Do not be afraid. Have I not commanded you? Be courageous and valiant." So the servants of Absalom did to Amnon as Absalom had commanded. Then all the king's sons arose, and each one got on his mule and fled. And it came to pass while they were on their way, that the news came to David saying, "Absalom has killed all the king's sons, and not one of them is left." Be careful with rumor. Sometimes rumor can be very terrible. Some people die through rumor. Rumor sometimes don't give the exact thing that is going on. They said everybody, but the truth was it was not everybody. It came to pass while they were away that news came to David, "Absalom has killed all the king's sons and not one of them is left." So the king arose and tore his garments and lay on the ground, and all his servants stood by with their clothes torn. Then Jonadab the son of Shimeah, David's brother, answered and said, "Let not my lord suppose that they have killed all the young men the king's sons, for only Amnon is dead, for by the command of Absalom this had been determined from the day that he forced his sister Tamar." Are you seeing something? I'm talking about handling hurt positively. Handling hurt positively. Something, he was grieved, he was hurt, and he did not say either good or evil. He comforted the sister that there is no problem, "No problem, don't lay it to heart, he is our brother now. There is no problem at all." But actually, from that day that that thing happened, Absalom began to devise how he's going to kill Amnon. And so every time he greets him, he says "Hello," he says "There," and then but there was a plan. And you can see that a hurt can be there waiting for expression for two full years, still fresh, fresh, unabated, waiting for expression, seeking vengeance, seeking revenge, seeking to strike back. These are not positive way of handling hurt. You could see what eventually followed. Somebody was raped, somebody was dead. In the midst of all of this, I'm showing you how hurt could lead to—what hurt could lead to. Now when that ended there, the story did not end there. I said we want to look at David's family. And when we leave that place, when Absalom had done that, verse 34, "Then Absalom fled." And the young man who was keeping watch lifted up his eye and looked, and there were many people coming from the road on the hillside. And Jonadab said to the king, "Look, the king's sons are coming, as your servant said, so it is." So it was as soon as they had finished speaking that the king's sons indeed came and they lifted up their voice and wept. Also the king and all the servants wept bitterly. "But Absalom fled and went to Talmai the son of Ammihud, king of Geshur. And David mourned for his son every day." So Absalom fled, of course. He was in that place where he fled to. He was there for three years. For three good years, Absalom had to stay there for three years. He was there. But in the last verse, the Bible says, "And the king longed to go to Absalom, for he had been comforted concerning Amnon because he was dead." Now what the Bible is trying to make us see from this King James language—let me see if I can read that in some more recent language so that we can get what the Bible meant by the king was comforted. I'm reading NLT now: "And David, now reconciled to Amnon's death, longed to be reunited with his son Absalom." Now, the hurt in Absalom led to murder. When hurt is kept, when hurt is preserved, when hurt is not handled immediately, when hurt is not let go, when hurt is keep seeking for vengeance, seeking revenge, seeking to strike back, this are not positive way of handling hurt. You could see what eventually followed—as negative as murder. That's what we saw in that story. And then when you look at it again, we saw that along the line, what Absalom did hurt David. David was hurt by what he did. But after three years, David felt, "Anyway, Amnon is dead. Don't let me lose two sons. Maybe I should be—I should let Absalom come back." But again, if you look at that story, these are serious issues, emotional issues are things we should handle very well. Emotional issue, I'm talking of hurt as an emotional thing. It is something we should handle with carefulness, we should handle with all watchfulness. Now look at what I'm trying to say, why did I say that? Look at chapter 14. David wanted to be reconciled to Absalom. He was already comforted over the death of Amnon. He seek to be reconciled to Absalom. But do you notice something? The grief that was in David could not allow David to personally invite Absalom. I'm talking about handling hurt positively in our relationship. Handling hurt positively in our relationship. I don't know whether you have experienced this kind of thing before. You have been hurt, but somehow you felt, "Anyway, I need to be reconciled to the person." But somehow you could not just bring yourself to do what you ought to do. And that is what is happening to David. Absalom killed Amnon, David was hurt. After three years, David felt, "Anyway, the one that is dead is dead. Let me call—let Absalom come back home so that I will not lose two sons at the same time." But David could not bring himself to the emotional maturity, the emotional willingness to invite Absalom. I'm talking about handling hurt positively in our relationship. Now, David knew that Absalom should come back. David felt he should come back. David ought to have personally invited Absalom and tell him to come back. But because of the hurt he's having, he did not do what he ought to do. He was unable to overcome the feeling of hurt. And I am telling you that is a negative way of handling hurt. For Absalom, we saw a negative way of handling hurt. He was hurt, he didn't say anything about it, he was quiet. That led to murder. For David, he was hurt, after three years he was comforted, but he could not overcome the feeling. He could not just tell Absalom to come back even when he knew he ought to tell him to come back. Because the Bible says in the end of chapter 13 that David, NLT, he says, "And David, now reconciled to Amnon's death, longed to be reunited to his son Absalom." He longed to be reunited. There was a longing inside him. But the hurt could not allow him to satisfy that longing. And I see that today. Many husbands, many wives, they really desire that they be reconciled to their husband, reconciled to their wife. They want reconciliation, but they could not just overcome the feeling of hurt. They could not just set it aside. They are just—the longing to be reconciled to their spouse is there, but they could not just bring themselves to take action. You feel you ought to go and say, "Okay, let it be over." But you know you ought to do that, but you don't just bring yourself to do it because you are still feeling—you are still nursing the hurt. Now, but look at something. There was somebody who helped David. That's I'm already in chapter 14 now. It says in 14 verse 1, 2 Samuel 14:1, so Joab the son of Zeruiah perceived that the king's heart was concerned about Absalom. This man was close to the king. He knew that it's like after these three years, the king seems to want Absalom back. Maybe from some things he said or from some—you know, he's the chief of army staff, so he's there. He was able to know that this man is just that he could not do anything, he really want Absalom to come back. I am begging you: don't make hurt hold you back from doing what you ought to do. Don't make hurt hold you back. David wanted him back, but the hurt was there. Now let's see how the story goes. So Joab sent to Tekoa and brought from there a wise woman and said to her—anytime I read this story, I just feel me that indeed if the Bible says they brought a wise woman, it means some women are foolish. Anyway, it's just a lesson that some people have been able to make themselves to exhibit wisdom while some have not been able to do so. In character and in learning, may God help us to exhibit wisdom in the name of Jesus Christ. So they brought a wise woman and said to her, "Please pretend to be a mourner and put on mourning apparel. Do not anoint yourself with oil, but act like a woman who has been mourning a long time for the dead. Go to the king and speak to him in this manner." So Joab put words in her mouth. So when the woman of Tekoa spoke to the king, she fell on her face on the ground and prostrated. She just did—after doing everything, she did some things, said some things—the need for forgiveness, the need for mercy, and all of that. Eventually, when the woman did that, let's see the response of the king. So the woman said everything that Joab told her. The story was just for somebody, the need for somebody not to continue to seek vengeance, not to continue in hurt, the need to overlook it. That was what the woman acted to the king. That was what Joab put in the mouth of the woman. So the king said, verse 19, "Is the hand of Joab with you in all this?" So the king suspected that Joab—that tells you that the king must have discussed with Joab. And from their discussion, Joab realized that the king want Absalom. Only that he could not just bring himself to do so because he was still grieved. So when the woman acted and acted and acted and the way everything went—Ah! The king suspected that Joab—this thing, this thing is coming from a source. So the king said to the woman, "Is the hand of Joab with you in all this?" And the woman answered and said, "As you live, my lord the king, no one can turn to the right or to the left from anything that my lord the king has spoken. For your servant Joab commanded me, and he put all these words in my mouth in the mouth of your maidservant. To bring about this change of affair, your servant Joab has done this thing. But my lord is wise, according to the wisdom of the angel of God, to know everything that is on the earth." And the king said to Joab, "All right, I have granted this thing. Go therefore and bring the young man Absalom." So which means the king has spoken with Joab. And Joab just felt that okay if it is like this then let him come back. King said, "No, I'm still grieved, no, why will he kill his brother like that? Why will he? And Joab must have pleaded with him, pleaded with him, but he was sick. "See king, you want this boy back, you don't want to lose two sons. Why not just set this son apart?" David could not set the hurt apart, but he want Absalom back. And so you see Joab was able to mediate in that thing and then David now commanded Joab to go and bring Absalom. But look at how things played out. It still did not play out well. That is why we must not keep hurt unhandled. It did not play out well. Look at what happened. Then Joab fell to the ground on his face and bowed himself and thanked the king. And Joab said, "Today your servant know that I have found favor in your sight, my lord oh king, in that the king has fulfilled the request of his servant." So Joab arose and went to Geshur and brought Absalom to Jerusalem. Look at what happened: "And the king said, 'Let him return to his own house, but do not let him see my face.'" So Absalom returned to his own house, but he did not see the face of the king. Are you seeing that as much as Joab was making the king to see that, see, drop this hurt, drop this hurt, reconcile to this boy, you said you want him back, then leave this thing? And many times you find this in marriage relationship. You have been hurt, you feel anyway, let me be reconciled to my husband, reconcile to my wife. You want reconciliation, but you could not just overcome the feeling of hurt. You could not just set it aside. You are just—the longing to be reconciled to your spouse is there, but you could not just bring yourself to take action. You feel you ought to go and say "Okay let it be over," but you know you ought to do that but you don't just bring yourself to do it because you are still feeling—you are still nursing the hurt. Now, but you see that after Joab mediated and the king said, "Go and bring him," the king did not set aside that emotion of hurt. He didn't set it aside. I'm trying to make you see handling hurt positively. And what we are trying to see is that hurt is something that should not prevent us from doing what we ought to do. Hurt make us to feel one way, but in handling it positively, we should bring ourselves to do what we should do, not what we feel like doing. David should have invited Absalom because he longed to have him back. But the hurt could not allow him to do that. And I am telling you that if you must—if you will save your marriage, you must learn to positively handle hurt in this manner. When we are hurt, we must not keep silent about it and be seeking for vengeance. When we are hurt, if we—when we know that no, although I'm hurt, this is what is right to be done, we should not allow the feeling of hurt to make us do the negative, to make us do what we want to do as against what we ought to do. David knew that Joab was right because David himself knew that Absalom should come back. So when you allow the emotion of hurt to prevail, to stand stronger over prevailing wisdom, over the wisdom of God, over the wisdom of reconciliation, over the wisdom of forgiveness, over the wisdom of pardon, over the wisdom of sincere forgiveness, then you are not handling hurt positively. The feeling of hurt must not prevail over the wisdom of reconciliation, must not prevail over the wisdom of restoration, must not prevail over the wisdom of sincere forgiveness. It must not prevail over it. What happened with David right now was that when David agreed that Joab should go and bring this boy—look at what David said: "I would not want to see his face. Let him go to his house. Let him go and stay there." So which means hurt is prevailing over what—forgiveness. The forgiveness of David was not sincere. Hurt must not prevail over sincere forgiveness. Hurt must not prevail over true reconciliation. The feeling of hurt—that feeling of hurt—must not prevail over genuine pardon. You say, "Okay it's all over," but you are still holding that feeling. And that was the problem of David. And I'm telling you if you don't learn this secret, many times you will not have a happy marriage. Many times your home will not be happy because you could imagine—three years had gone. We are talking about the fourth year. David was still hurting. And you find many marriages like that. Spouses are carrying the hurt—the feeling—when you call some people you want to discuss, "How do we do?" He said, "Look, this whole thing started the very first day of our marriage." You're talking about ten years marriage, somebody's talking about something that happened the first day of the marriage. He's still carrying it, he's still holding it. But look at how things turned out. For you to see why it's important that the feeling of hurt should not prevail over genuine forgiveness, sincere forgiveness, genuine pardon, the wisdom of reconciliation and restoration. It should not prevail over it. Once it prevails over these four things, then you are not handling hurt positively. You're handling it negatively. Because the turnout of this thing became a more serious consequence for David. Something has happened. Oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Okay, it's over. Let it be over. If it is over, let it truly be over. The Bible warn us in the book of Romans, the Bible says let love be sincere. Let love be sincere. Don't do what David did. David was having a plastic love. It was not a sincere thing. He did not act sincerely towards the young man. And that led to what the young man did and eventually—he didn't want to lose Absalom, at the same time, hurt could not make him truly forgive him. Eventually, the boy came back and rebelled against his father. He fled. Many people died in that process. The king himself was sorrowful, wept and wept. And then he left that in the battle. Many Israelites died. The son that he did not want to lose now, the boy died. Eventually, the king now came back. Came back to the kingdom. But now, coming back to that kingdom, at a time when the kingdom has greatly reduced. People have died, he has lost his son—the son that he did not want to lose—many things have happened, his concubines have been slept with, they have been raped. Look at all that—all that he now have to sorrow over. Which one is cheaper? And which one is costly? I want to beg you—our brethren as you—I don't know where you are you are connecting with us online, don't know where you are, but I want you to look at these things. How is your marriage today? How is your home today? What are you grieving over? Don't be penny wise, pound foolish. That was the action of David. Don't be penny wise, pound foolish. So what are we saying today? What are we learning from the life of David about handling hurt positively? What we are saying is that number one, it is crucial that we don't keep hurt unhandled. Absalom kept the hurt. He didn't say anything to Amnon. He just kept cool. Don't be hurting and keep cool while planning evil, revenge inside. That was the part of Absalom. Absalom kept cool with Amnon and after two full years, he killed Amnon. But we move beyond Absalom. We are looking at David. We are saying that don't allow the feeling of grief prevail over the obvious wisdom of sincere forgiveness, genuine pardon, the spirit of reconciliation, the spirit of restoration. These four things. Don't allow the feeling—your what you are holding to—it prevail over the obvious thing. He wanted him back, but he could not just bring himself to do it. Which was bad. He wanted the boy back. Many times you want your home, you want your relationship, but your hurt will not just make you to do what you ought to do and to do it on time. You will just be vacillating, "Okay I will part okay but you see let me for"—no, but you know, you see, you keep like that, vacillating, vacillating until things grows worst. That was David. And what did we also learn from this story is that if you don't handle hurt positively, what you will find out is that you might be digging the pit of a greater one. You might be digging the pit of a greater one. You might be digging the pit of having to manage something greater than the one that you are managing now. Why not let go of your grief? Why not let go of your hurt? Why not let it go? Why not see that the part of reconciliation, the part of sincere forgiveness, genuine pardon, they make us to pay—in fact, we will have nothing to pay. If that boy had been brought back and was truly reconciled to his father and everything was going well, there would have been no rebellion. They would not have have to run away. Those women would not have been slept with. The boy would not have been killed. The kingdom would not have scattered. So think about all of these things. I want to beg you. If you're a Christian, the Bible teaches us that the pathway to go is to handle hurt positively. It's not to hold to it, it's not to cling to it, it's to discuss it, it's to take the part of true, sincere forgiveness, to take the part of genuine pardon, the part of reconciliation, the part of restoration. And if you are out there listening to me and you are not a Christian, what I will need to tell you that you don't have the power to do what we are talking about except if you first give your life to Jesus. Nobody can give what he does not have. It is because Christians, genuine believers, they receive pardon from God, that's why they can pardon others. We have received pardon from God. God pardoned us and made us sons and daughters of God. So we have the capacity to genuinely pardon people. If you have not been pardoned, you cannot forgive others genuinely. So I will invite you today, wherever you are listening to me, first receive forgiveness from God. Go back to God and ask, tell—repent of your sins and give your life to Jesus. Ask Him to pardon you for your sin. And then it is after you have received Jesus into your life that what you can now give what you have received. You can now give pardon also. What I'm trying to say as we close our meeting this morning is that Jesus is the answer. Jesus is the answer. And if you're a believer, you're listening to me and you're holding to grief and to hurt, can I tell you that you are not like your Father? You are not like your Father. Don't be a spiritual bastard. Be like your Father who truly forgives, who truly pardons, who truly accepts, who truly reconciles himself to people. Don't hold to your grief. God did not hold to His grief over the sins of men. Rather, God took action for reconciliation. Take action today and be like your Father. Don't be a spiritual bastard. Let us have a word of prayer this morning. Wherever you are, please talk to the Lord about your own marriage, about your own home. Talk to the Lord about it. Speak to the Lord about your own marriage, speak to the Lord about your own home. I don't know the state of your own heart, but wherever you are listening to us, please look inward. Look inward. Is there something you are holding to? Are you having a plastic love? Your love is not genuine. Your pardon—when you say it is all over, no you have just started. What is your situation? Why not talk to the Lord this morning? Talk to the Lord, talk to the Lord, talk to the Lord. Ask the Lord for help. Yes, the emotion of grief can be sometimes very, very funny, preventing us from doing what we ought to do. Preventing us from doing what we ought to do even when it is obvious we ought to do so. When it is obvious, "No I ought not do like this, no I ought not take vengeance, I ought not take revenge, I ought not, I ought not." But the feeling keeps making you to go that way. Liberate yourself today and say, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I can forgive, I can sincerely forgive, I can genuinely pardon, I can genuinely pardon. Yes, yes, yes, I can be truly reconciled, I can be truly reconciled to my spouse. I can do it. I can do it. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I can do all things. I can do all things." Thank You Father. Our Father, we thank You for today. Lord, we commit ourselves into Your hand. We pray that Lord, Lord, particularly we pray for homes, homes that are hurting, lives that are grieved. Lord, we pray, speak peace to every heart in the name of Jesus. Lord our God, we pray, incline Lord every grieving heart, every pained heart, every heart that is hurting. Lord, we pray, we ask this morning that Lord God by that working by which You are able to subdue all things unto Yourself, You will subdue them under the greatness of Your mercy and love in the name of Jesus Christ. You will grant strength for such heart to set grief aside, to set pain aside, to set hurt aside and do the needful in the name of Jesus Christ. Lord, we pray for every heart that is grieving. It will not be like the story of David. It will not lead to greater things, worst things happening to such person in the name of Jesus Christ. Rather, Lord God we pray, let there be peace, let there be rest. Grant us all, oh Lord, that our marriages will be strong, our families will be peaceful in the name of Jesus Christ. Thank You, Lord our God. Help our relationships, oh God, in the name of Jesus. Thank You, blessed Father. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. Let's share the grace together: the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us now and forevermore. Amen. This message is coming to you from Family Tents Ministry, a Christian ministry involved in reaching the lives of singles and married through preaching and teaching of God's word, discipleship, family life enrichment, social and community development, and mission heat. Our regular activities are: discipleship class every Monday, 5 PM; adolescents and singles club every first Saturday of every month at 10 AM; marriage forum second Saturday of every month at 10 AM; family life seminars, regular school outreaches, and everyday counseling. For further counseling, you can reach us at our location, Life Camp by the first bridge, Ilere community, opposite Rejoice Filling Station, along Ijegre Road, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria. You can also reach us through our social media handles: familytents@yahoo.co.uk, familytentsministry01@gmail.com, www.familytentsministry.org. Our phone numbers are 080-33-86-11-36, 070-33-61-38-48. God bless you all.