Recently I had the privilege of taking 60 women on a journey of deepening their relationship with Christ. We used the Crossroads on the Journey women’s discipleship book produced by Navigator Church Ministries and NavPress. Many of the women shared ways that the study had transformed their relationship with Christ, but one woman, Nona, stood out in particular. Here’s Nona’s story:
The Holy Spirit has transformed my life, and what could have been a root of bitterness that tainted my walk with the Lord is gone!
Walking through the first three sessions in Crossroads, I found myself reading God’s Word, fellowshipping with lovely women, and feeling like my life was going smoothly. I felt a bit smug about how my actions must be pleasing God.
As I opened the Crossroads book to travel through Session 4, the quiet time passage from John 7:37 prompted my prayer of thanks to God for giving me the Holy Spirit to guide and convict me of sin, and to be ready to testify to others about what having the Holy Spirit means in my life.
Session 4 focused on four important parts of Christian life: character, conduct, commitment, and contribution. One of the Scriptures in the conduct section was Ephesians 4:31,32: “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, just as in Christ God forgave you.”
As I read this verse, the Spirit showed me a picture in my mind of an ugly aspect of bitterness in my life. It was like an anvil fell on me! I was bitter about how my stepbrothers and sister had acted at my father’s funeral and in the family dealings after his death. Not only that, I passed my bitterness on to my son.
The Spirit told me not to cling to hurts, and forgive my stepbrothers and sister, and talk to my son and ask his forgiveness for putting my wrong feelings in his mind. Covered in prayer by my Crossroads small group, I had the opportunity to talk to my son and his wife to apologize and ask forgiveness for remarks I had made. — Nona
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