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A Sound Mind
Biblical Transformation By Stephen Shober, BBS Board Member "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God,
that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God,
which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world; but be ye
transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good,
and acceptable, and perfect, will of God" (Romans 12:1-2). Introduction
Have you ever heard someone say something like this, "I can't help it, that is just how I am and how God made me." This
way of thinking is very unfortunate since it denies the transforming power of
the Holy Spirit to change lives, and even goes so far as to blame God for
personal deficiencies. God certainly accepts us just as we are for salvation
(we do not have to try to get rid of our sin first), but His earnest desire is
not to leave us the way He finds us. His desire after salvation is to start
changing us from the inside-out, that is, to transform us from the depths of
our being (changing how we think and act). The emphasis should not be who we
are, but who we could be by the grace of God. "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he" (Proverbs 23:7). God created us in His image and, to some degree, being created in His image
includes being made with three aspects, or parts, just as He is three. Our
three aspects are: body, soul and spirit. In general terms, the soul is that
part of us that is self-conscious (relating to self and the world around us),
while the spirit is that part of us that is God-conscious (relating to faith
and our relationship with God).1 Each aspect has specific functions
and needs; thankfully, God has a plan for each (according to His knowledge of
the intricacies of His handiwork). God's plan for our spirit is regeneration, an instantaneous act of God that
saves us by His grace the moment we believe. His plan for the believer's body
is to give us a glorified body in the future (with some earthly assistance for
the present time). This article will explore God's plan for our mind. In
Scripture the words mind, heart and soul are often used interchangeably; this
pattern will be followed in this article. His plan for our mind is to renew it,
to make it completely new, thereby transforming our entire life. Living a
sanctified life (holy and God-pleasing) is based upon this renewing, that is,
upon the Holy Spirit producing His character, will, values, and desires in our
heart. Ultimately, we see that His grace is seen not only in salvation but in
every aspect and all times of our life. His power within us helps assure what
mankind so desperately seeks—a sound mind. "And be
renewed in the spirit of your mind" (Ephesians We humans are a spiritual being in a physical body with a mind (soul) to
do what the Holy Spirit teaches.2 Heavenly Instructions
The word transformed (Romans 12:2) in Greek is metamorphosis (meta=change, morph=form) and means, a change in form.
In common practice the word transformation is used to describe the change
of a rather unattractive chrysalis (larva) into a beautiful butterfly. Christ's
transfiguration in Mark 9:2-13 was a metamorphosis. The Lord wants each of us
to be transformed and this is accomplished by having a renewed mind. Our mind has
to be changed in such a way that the old nature with its values, beliefs and
practices is replaced by that which conforms to the mind of Christ. We are not
genetically programmed to transform ourselves, God will not do it for us
automatically, nor will He force it upon us. He will only do it as we allow Him
and cooperate with Him in the process (walk in the Spirit). "Believers are commanded to change [if you prefer, exchange]3 the expressions of the old life and nature for
that of the new nature which indwells every Christian. This is done by the
renewing of the mind by the Holy Spirit. `Renewing' means `a complete change
for the better' effected by the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5)."4 The
beauty of transformation is that we will find His good, acceptable (well pleasing),
and perfect (complete) will to be exactly what we need in our life. His will in
our life will prove to us, family, church, society, even the angels in heaven
(Ephesians Why Needed
A good spiritual lesson is afforded by a boy who observed a chrysalis
transforming into a butterfly. The boy saw the struggling chrysalis trying to
get out of the cocoon and wondered why it had to struggle so hard, why did God
make it struggle for so long, wasn't there an easier way?
Finally, the boy intervened in his desire to ease the struggle. He took his
pocketknife and carefully cut the cocoon open so the struggling creature could
get out. It did, it wiggled out and the boy was delighted with his heroic
efforts. But then, the chrysalis fell to the ground, writhing and struggling
because it could not fly—its wings were not sufficiently developed. Eventually
the chrysalis died. The boy then realized that the cocoon that he saw as a
hindrance and an obstacle was instead life sustaining and allowed the chrysalis
time to develop into a butterfly. The struggle was a necessary part of life and
his well intended shortcuts only had detrimental effects. For
the butterfly to fly required metamorphosis, and that entailed struggle and
time. "If we do not become changed from the inside-out—if we don't morph—we
will be tempted to find external methods to satisfy our need to feel that we're
different from those outside the faith."5 If we do not allow
our self to be transformed, we will settle for being informed (ever learning,
II Timothy 3:7) or conformed to something other than Christ. It is here we
Christians must be careful not to fall into one of the adversary's clever
schemes, that is, the belief that by not conforming to the world we are obeying
Romans 12. A person can be against everything the world offers but that only
makes that person a non-conformist. Non-conformity is not transformation.
Non-conformity can result in a person being a cranky, belligerent,
isolationist—this is not God's desire. Transformation is a personal matter
between each of us and the Holy Spirit, and, as the Lord produces His mind in
us, we are compelled from our heart not to conform to the world. Transformation
produces the desired non-conformance, not vice versa! Perhaps an illustration will help clarify the above statement. If your boss
said to you, "an emergency requires that you quickly go to the warehouse,
do not walk but take the company car." Then, if you were to think,
"Well, I was told not to walk so I'll run," would that be obeying the
boss? Certainly not. The boss' emphasis was on what
to do, not on what not to do. While running is not walking, that is
not what the boss wants and it will not get the job done—just take the car and
that resolves all issues of walking/running. In our case, the Lord's emphasis
is on transformation, which results in conformance to Christ. The degree we
are conformed to Christ is the degree to which conformity to the world is
averted. Pure non-conformists can end life mean-spirited and negative
because no transformation has taken place, only a preoccupation with being
against the world. Too often we think that Romans 12:2 gives us two commands: 1) not to conform
to the world and 2) to be transformed. There is no "and" between the
two phrases (implying two things); there is a "but," which indicates
the Lord is instructing us to do one of two things (be transformed). We have
the choice of either conforming to the world or of having a renewed mind
conforming to that of Christ. The choice of a renewed mind avoids the other.
The legalists love to teach there are two items here for our obedience and then
they come up with a list of do's and don'ts to measure non-conformance to the
world. This is missing the point entirely. Ideally, under grace, transformation
creates a mind that has no interest in conformance to the world. In practical
terms, our earthly struggle is often the fight between the world and Christ for
our mind's attention; we want to make sure the transformation side is always
winning the battle. Salvation is required before transformation can begin, but transformation
should commence immediately thereafter. Any self-transformation attempts are
useless. Just as we cannot save ourselves (He has to do it all for us), we
cannot transform ourselves; however, He will do it for us, over time, as we
yield to Him. Transformation is not an instantaneous act of God like salvation;
it is a life-long process conducted by the Holy Spirit. It is the process of
growing spiritually (with ups and downs), of growing in grace, with the goal of
continually being conformed to the mind of Christ. Please consider these reasons why we must each be morphed: • To overcome the defacing of His image due to sin. • Our mind is polluted from the fall, the world and our own choices—we need
mental detoxification, mind renewal, reprogramming, and the mind of Christ. • We need a new mind to go along with our salvation. • We need a new value system, desires and goals—His (Philippians • Renewal of our mind removes negative thinking, a prime source of mental
and physical illness.6 • To put off the old man (sin oriented, self-centered, defensive behavior,
unable to admit being wrong, anger, moodiness, etc.) (Ephesians 4:22). • To put on the new man (Colossians • To remove the overwhelming burden of thinking our performance is the
measure of our standing with the Lord. • Mental baggage (hidden in the deep recesses of our mind) holds us down,
keeps us captive to the past, and we have to get rid of it. More on Mental Baggage
A woman saw a very large and powerful elephant at a circus that was restrained
by a small chain. The woman knew that the elephant could easily break the chain
if it wanted, but every time the elephant came to the end of the chain it just
stopped and did not even try to break free. The trainer said that the chain was
the same one that was used when the elephant was little, and at that time the
elephant tried and tried to break it but could not. So the elephant learned at
that time that it could not break the chain, and he still remembers that.
"You see," said the trainer, "it is not the chain that holds the
elephant captive but his memories." Sadly, this is true for many of us,
our memories hold us captive and we do not experience the freedom that is ours
in Christ. Precious memories are the fabric of our lives, but unpleasant
memories unravel that fabric. The author often gets letters, calls, and emails from believers who have had
a miserable past. The accounts go on and on about a terrible childhood,
physical abuse, sexual abuse, depression, wrong treatment, unfaithful friends/spouses,
bad parents, alcohol and drug abuse….Some people seem to be dealt a very poor
hand in life, some create it themselves. Sometimes the past is composed of good
things that no longer exist (careers, fame, family, friends, wealth);
these can also be negative when viewed from the perspective of great loss. The
negative memories of the past, when ruminated about (thought about over and
over in one's mind) will only consume a person emotionally and physically.
Negative thinking about the past feeds our hostility, bitterness or sense of
loss. Since we cannot do anything about the past, we need a new way of viewing
it. Constant negative thinking is like a cancer of the soul and is a sure
formula for actual mental illness. That is why we are instructed in Philippians
3:13-14 to put it behind us (forget about the past) and look forward to the
finish line. If we wallow in the negative events of our past and do not allow
transformation, then the past will continue to be our present and future. In an effort to relieve the pain of the past and in order to foster healing
many people have tried forgiving those who have offended them. Often they are
disappointed, stating that forgiveness doesn't work because they still remember
the pain of the past and people still treat them the same. Forgiveness does not
mean we will forget the past; only God can forget such things. Forgiveness on
our part does not change the past, or others for that
matter; what it does is release us from the stranglehold the past has on our present
life. Thus, it creates in us a new perspective that allows us to move forward
in life. Forgiveness creates a condition in which the memories of the past do
not continue to control us emotionally—so a memory of the past does not create
sorrow, hostility or tears. In this regard, a Christian friend or therapist
using Scriptural principles may be used by the Lord to help a person see and
interpret the past and themselves differently. It is better to forgive past
injustice than to let it fester into bitterness7 that tarnishes the
rest of our life. Our future in Christ can be very different, provided we allow
Him to make the truth that "all things are become new" (II
Corinthians For clarification purposes, forgiveness and forgetting the past relate to
our mind; however, other civil, legal and family responsibilities still remain.
One can walk away from an errant mind into a new way of thinking but one should
not walk away from earthly responsibilities. So, debts, child support, criminal
activities, and similar responsibilities must still be addressed. When our minds are held captive there is no joy. Renewal of the mind allows
the Lord to remove that which holds our minds captive and restore our joy.
Consider this Biblical example. After the first destruction of the temple in There is no joy while our mind is held captive to anything but Christ.
Purpose
Pastor Sadler states, "When the present dispensation was committed to
Paul, the very nature of `grace' gave birth to a new revelation in regard to
our Christian walk."9 Lewis Sperry Chafer emphasizes, "God
has a purpose under grace, for a whole new manner of life for the
believer,"10 that is: • Adjustment of our life to the indwelling-presence of the Holy Spirit, and
of maintaining an unbroken attitude of dependence on that Spirit. • The law could work no change in the heart/mind, nor can our attempts to
keep rules; the Spirit only can do this. • Under grace, God proposes by the Spirit to first create the heavenly
motives and desires, and then, by the same Spirit, to empower the life through
the Word unto the full realization of those desires (Philippians • Thus, it may be seen that grace is not a way of escaping obedience to God, it is the only possible way in which true obedience can
be secured. If you squeeze an orange you get orange juice, every time. If you want grape
juice no amount of faith or sincere prayer will enable grape juice to come out
of an orange. Even a child knows you always get orange juice, "because
that's what's in it." The question is, what comes
out of us when we are squeezed? What is truly inside is what will come out when
squeezed by the stress of life. Does cursing, addictive behavior, bitterness,
revenge, or sorrow come out? As the Lord transforms our mind and renews it His
fruit is produced in our mind; then what will come out will be love, joy,
peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance
(Galatians 5:22-23). "For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness
and righteousness and truth" (Ephesians 5:9). How Morphing Works
Believers should embrace and clearly understand transformation. • It is not an instantaneous act of God, it is a process
of God (lifelong). • It is not a gift (it is not acquired all at one time or in a complete form
like a gift); it is the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit requiring cooperation
and effort on our part. In this regard, it helps to understand that generally a
spiritual gift and an act of God go together (example: salvation),
whereas, spiritual fruit and a process of God go together (examples:
love, joy, peace). • The passive voice (Greek) in Romans 12:2 means the Holy Spirit will do the
transforming for us as we cooperate with Him (listening, yielding, relying,
submitting, learning, praying, studying, obeying…). • We do not get a renewed mind by just praying, asking or believing. There
are no shortcuts or quick and easy ways for becoming spiritually mature. • It results in His fruit growing in us (Galatians 5:22-23, Philippians
1:11, Ephesians 5:9). • Fruit grows slowly, requiring: nurturing (Word, prayer, obedience…),
cultivation (weed removal, i.e., those old things in our life that choke out
our new life in Christ), watering (worship and praise), fertile ground (a mind
receptive and hungry), pruning (some strategic removal of "self" so
that we can be closer to the Vine and produce better fruit), and pest removal
(Ephesians 6, spiritual warfare). The schematics below will be used to help illustrate this important
ministry. Concerning the soul and spirit, Hebrews 4:12 indicates
that only the Word of God can discern the difference between them because they
are so much alike in their nature and activities. Likewise, the activities of
soul, mind and heart are similar, overlapping considerably.
In Figure 1, the four circles represent our entire being. On the outside is
our temporary house (our body), next deeper down into our being is our soul
(mind/heart), and further into the deeper parts of our being (our core) is our
spirit. The most inner circle would be a black hole (void of God) for the
unsaved, but for the believer the Holy Spirit comes within
and fills this most important part of our being. In time past (including the
Gospels), the Spirit worked from the outside to create changes within the
person. But now, in this dispensation, the Holy Spirit is within the person and
works outward—a much more effective means for assuring a Godly demeanor. He
works from the deepest recesses of our being, working outward, transforming our
mind and life in the process. As the Holy Spirit works, He is primarily interested in the most important
areas of our existence, i.e., our spirit and the deeper parts of our soul. What
is contained in these areas where the Spirit primarily works? Well, the core
issues of life. Starting at the deepest issues and going toward the less deep,
the order is somewhat like this: God-consciousness, faith, conscience,
character, value system, will, desires, and so forth. Figure 2 represents a
more detailed view of various parts of our composition (from the body to the
Holy Spirit) and how they relate. Things like personality and emotions are far
from the core; it is not as likely He will change our body, personality or
emotions as it is He will change the core issues. He changes our core issues
and creates fruit in our life; thus, a person will have inner joy (character
issue) but may not display a happy face (emotion). Other examples of His
transforming power are seen when a person's value system is changed from pro-choice
to pro-life or when a person's desires are changed over time such that
addictive behavior is overcome. Godly convictions, conscience and behavior are
created through a renewed mind. The Spirit is needed in transforming us because we are incapable to affect
any change on our own. As an example, consider our character, which comes from
the depths and recesses of our being. Our character is different than our personality, our personality is our outward manifestation to
the world around us. Our character looks inward, it feels our hurt and joy, it arranges our inner value system and motivations.
Character is the foundation upon which our personality acts. Our character has
some very basic needs, and these needs are generally established early in life
and are based upon our first and most primitive experiences. The word for
character originally meant, "to carve, engrave,
scratch, or cut grooves."11 It comprises the deepest imprints
(grooves) in our person, and these grooves are not easily changed. For most
people these early-formed imprints are permanently engraved into their being.
Those grooves that are in error are the `scars of life' that cause many people
mental health problems their whole life. We need Divine help to remove them
(when they are contrary to God's will). It is like erasing scratches in a
phonographic record or CD, impossible for us, easy for Him. If done through
self-effort we only "pick scabs" and create permanent scars. We must
depend upon Him to make us new from the inside-out to remove the grooves and
erase the scars of the past; otherwise, they will control us and hold us
captive our entire life. Prepare for the Journey
The life-long journey of transformation is not necessarily easy and it has frustrations.
It is the journey He has planned and will guide; it goes places we did not know
existed. None of us could have even dreamed of such a journey. A. Accept thorns: Recall the boy and chrysalis story; struggle is one
means for growth if we want to mature. God uses struggles and trials to mature
us; we must bear His cross. Accept the fact there will be many discouragements
and even doubts, but do not let them deter you from further growth. B. Expect Spiritual Advancement: Philippians 3:15-16—Let your level
of spiritual attainment be your guide for further advancement, but do not get
stuck at some level and think you can not mature more. Your imperfections will
be revealed by the Holy Spirit so that you may continue to grow and be more
complete (not sinless, but a well rounded Christian). Maturity versus infancy
is the issue; God wants to continually transform us so we more and more conform
to Christ. C. Rejoice in the Refiner's touch: God loves you just the way you
are, but refuses to leave you that way; He wants you to be like Christ. We love
babies just as they are, but do we stop when they fill their pants? No, that is
their nature; we want to help them grow and refuse to leave them that way (II
Corinthians D. New light/truth demands change: Transformation enables us to
mentally accept the concept that a "reasonable service" for our Lord
is to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, Romans 12:1. If you have to
give up former ways, habits or addictions, He will first change your desires
and then give you the willpower to do it—change becomes easier than originally
thought. As we commit to a new way of life it will, over time, become a natural
way of life. Change/sacrifice is what God asks, and is a ministry of the Holy
Spirit we should take great care not to quench. E. Stretch Forward: In Philippians 3:1-14 Paul uses a race runner's
analogy. The runner's speed is slackened by looking backward to those behind,
so the Christian's onward progress is hindered by dwelling on the past. The
past, whether bad or good, can hold us captive and prevent future advancement.
Forgetting the past means to not let it dominate our present emotions and life.
If things have been made right with those involved, we should forget about the
past and stretch forward to the things ahead, like a runner leans toward the
finish line. You cannot run the race looking backward. Outcome of Transformation
Transformation results in a closer walk and intimacy with Christ. Intimacy
allows us to be ourselves without fear of disapproval. Thus, I can pour my
heart out to Him without fear of His disappointment and He can pour Himself
into me without my resistance or fear. A transformed mind thinks something like
this: As the Lord leads, I desire to live with a personal, intimate
relationship with the Lord—a life infused with a God-given purpose. May my
intent be to know Him so closely that everything I think or touch is filled
with the fullness of Christ. Furthermore, may my
passion be to have a mind with the inclination and desires to believe and
pursue Christ-likeness with every aspect of my being. Transformation creates true empowerment. Power is produced from within,
actuating and providing us with the ability to perform what He desires in our
lives. As His fruit begins growing in our mind, our lives
displays more and more Christ-likeness, and our lives reflects the fruit
of growing in grace. We are empowered to glorify God. Practical help
There is a fairly well known process for getting from the thought of doing
something to actually getting it done. First we have the thought of
accomplishing something, this is the conceptual stage that involves our will;
it takes place in our mind. The next step is to move the thought from our mind
to verbalizing it (saying it), this expresses our
desire to others and tends to establish it in our heart. Once we have
verbalized our desire then we move to establishing our intent (the planning
stage): answering the what, how, and when questions that help assure
accomplishment of the goal. Then, the final stage is to have a passion about
doing (action) what is needed to see the goal become an accomplished fact. Note how similar this is to what God did for us so that we could be "in
Christ" in this present age. First, by His will he developed the concept
in His mind (thought it all out before the foundation of the world), verbalized
it (let Us make man in our Own image), planned for the whole process of
Christ's death and the life hereafter (He even planned to keep some things
secret for a time), and finally He put it all into action and directed the
process.
Each step of maturity brought about by transformation of the mind helps
assure the next steps of spiritual growth are godly in origin. The renewed mind
can then correctly express the desire, plan for change and passionately pursue
the goal. But, all too often we quench the Holy Spirit (I Thessalonians In addition to quenching the Holy Spirit there is another way we hinder
transformation. It has to do with how we view things in general, and how we
view something can subconsciously drive our intent and passion. It has been
shown that we have best results when we view a situation from the positive,
rather than from the negative. If viewed from the negative, there is often a
break in the process between Desire and Intent. God puts the
thought in the mind, the person translates that into a desire, but Satan (or
self) finds a way for partial obedience to seem very godly, and this prevents
further advancement. The example below will help clarify this. A person says, "I hate being so angry." This is viewing an area of
concern from the negative perspective. The problem with this view is that the
expressed desire is to hate anger, so in order for this person to hate being
angry they must be angry. The intent (plan) follows the desire, so the plan in
this case will revolve around how to hate being angry. Unfortunately, in order
to continue to hate one's anger a person must stay angry. It seems absurd at
first, but such views inadvertently and subconsciously set a person up for
failure; in this case, the person tends to get hung-up on hating anger rather
than getting over it. They can find solace in the fact they hate what God
hates, but they end up being just partially obedient and do not appropriate
God's provision for victory. A person has to view and state their desire
positively, "With God's help, I will be slow to anger." Once we have
thought it out and verbalized being slow to anger, then plans to accomplish
this can begin and the person can passionately practice being slow to anger. The person above must make cooperation with the Lord a moment-by-moment
issue. Cooperation requires searching for Scriptures that apply to the
situation, confronting the situation constructively, making no provisions to
continue to sin, repenting (immediately stopping wrong behavior and
acknowledging the sin), and practicing replacing anger with the things noted in
Philippians 4:8. A specific formula/approach for success in overcoming each
problem area of life cannot be given because it is the work of the Holy Spirit
and may be different in each person's life. What works for one may not work for
another, this is His domain. Again, there are no short cuts and each person
must search the Scriptures daily for help and insights, while also searching
for strongholds in their life that have to be brought into obedience to the
Lord. How should one verbalize a temper problem: "I wish I did not have a bad
temper" or "I will be longsuffering"? How about relationships:
"My spouse and I have irreconcilable differences" or "Christ can
make something beautiful out of the ashes or our marriage and I will make that
my top priority." Consider this approach for any issue, say, being
overweight. There is instruction in the oxymoron, "Lord give me patience and give
it to me now." Prayer alone will not yield patience. Prayer coupled with a
willing mind and obedience to His Word will. The very instance we feel
impatience occurring we must cut it off, "make no provision for the
flesh," and replace it with proper behavior. This may require some
personal suffering; but recall Romans 5:3 indicates tribulation (suffering)
leads to patience, which leads to experience (character building) and that to
hope. So, when we seek patience we are likely to experience suffering and gain
experience in the process. Transformation is the process of embarking on a
journey with the Holy Spirit, trekking into unexplored secret avenues of our
lives, going down paths we never knew existed, and accomplishing the
impossible. We learn it is a journey based upon obedience, trust and reliance
upon Him. Closing
The first step in God's plan to make us whole is our salvation. Salvation
provides the very deepest spiritual needs a person has; these are the spiritual
blessings of Ephesians 1:4-2:6. Although we get these blessings the moment of
salvation, it takes the life-long work of the Holy Spirit to help us understand
and appreciate them. These blessings help erase insecurity and feelings of
worthlessness and hopelessness by replacing them with the comfort and assurance
of Christ. The next step in making us whole (sound-minded) is our transformation. A
leopard cannot change its spots; on the contrary, a Christian must. We have
access to Divine empowerment to change the spots (core issues) of our life. To
say, "I cannot help who I am," is not true. Christians have the Holy
Spirit within them, so the issue is not who you are, but who He is. He
determines who you can be. In all stages of our life, no matter what our age,
the Lord has work to do; the issue is, are we willing to yield and cooperate.
It has been said there are two sides to every person, one minute sweet and
lovely to one person and a minute later explosive in rage to another; this does
not have to be the case for the believer. Transformation is accomplished through mind renewal, and as He renews our
minds the fruit of the Holy Spirit is produced in our life—slowly but surely
replacing the attitudes and character traits belonging to the old nature. Then,
when we are squeezed by life's trials we display the love, joy, peace, and
longsuffering indicative of Christ in us. A popular hymn refers to us as worms
before our salvation; we may have been worms at that time, but His ministry is
changing us worms into beautiful creatures of great worth. Endnotes
1. Scofield, C.I.; The
Scofield Reference Bible; 2. Vogel, H.C.A.; The Nature Doctor;
Keats Publishing; 1991. 3. The phrase in brackets was added by this author. 4. Brock, Robert; "The Commands of Christ for Christian Living";
Expo. Press; 1997. 5. Ortberg, John; The Life You've Always Wanted;
Zondervan Publishing House, 1997. 6. Morter, Ted M.; Cell Health and Wellness;
Lifetime Books, Inc.; 1992. 7. Bitterness has been shown to negatively influence a person's gall bladder
and anger negatively influences a person's liver. Over time both of these will
lead to physical as well as mental illness. 8. Castleman, Michael; The
Healing Herbs; Rodall Press; 1991. 9. Sadler, Paul M.; Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians; Berean Bible
Society; 1999. 10. Chafer, Lewis Sperry; Grace; Zondervan
Publishing House; 1979. 11. Malone, Thomas & Patrick; The Art
of Intimacy, Simon & Schuster, 1987. Steve Shober is a
Naturopath (natural health practitioner) and a member of the BBS Board of
Directors. If you have questions about this article, you can contact him at:
Biblical Health Ministries,
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