THE ONE YOU FEED

"Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Romans 7:24-25).

Yesterday I spent the day at North American Baptist Seminary in beautiful Sioux Falls, South Dakota. I attended the annual Hiller Lectureship dedicated to pastoral care and counseling. The speaker was Dr. Frederick DiBlasio, who serves as a professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Maryland. Dr. Diblasio has pioneered in the clinical use of forgivness, having researched the use and effectiveness of forgivness in marriage and family therapy. As Christians, it should be no surprise to us that forgivness is an effective intervention in family therapy, but Christians, themselves, are amazingly unforgiving, holding on to their "righteous anger."

Dr. DiBlasio, himself, is a committed Christian. He spoke briefly about the warfare that goes on in each of us between the flesh and the Spirit. He framed it as a father talking to his son about the battle between the flesh and the Spirit. The son asks his father, "What side wins?" The Father replies, "the one you feed." What side are you feeding?

Grace&Peace,
Tom