Holding a grudge can be harmful for your life and for business. The Holy Spirit wants you to learn his guidance and uses little things before bigger things. By Gary Shotton #000446

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Clear Conscience

By Gary Shotton

This text is in Extreme Rough draft and will be edited in the near future.

Hello my name is Gary Shotton, and on this talk, I’m going to discuss the subject, clear conscience. And I’ve got to tell you that this is something that I have wrestled with a little bit over my life, and hopefully have come to a good resolve. Let’s start with this. Let’s say that you’re in a difficult and heated discussion with your spouse, and anybody that’s married knows that what I mean by a difficult and heated discussion, and you are at odds verbally, you are discussing your point of view, in a very pointed way, and you leave that discussion with a clear. The reality that you are not in harmony, you are in disagreement, but for whatever reason you didn’t want to take it any further. And you stop that discussion so that it doesn’t escalate further, and maybe walk away. Well, if you love that person, you’re going to clear the air, and have a clear conscience about what happened and approach that person sometime in the near future to resolve that, to come to conclusion that whatever this little disagreement was is not worth a long lasting separation of harmony between you and your loved one. I mean let’s be honest we’ve all have that happen. We know we have that happen and where the problem comes is we if we won’t let it go. We won’t forgive internally, but also express words of reconciliation with the one we love the person that we have affection for in a positive way. A friend in the body of Christ. Well this has happened to me on several occasion it’s, it happened just last week and so it’s fresh on my mind, without the details, it doesn’t matter it was a fellow friend of mine. We go to church together, where we’re friends and yet in a business discussion, we didn’t even do the business, it was just a discussion, but it was obviously a disappointment on one or the two sides of this, and we left the discussion a little bit abrupt, a little bit pointed a little bit awkward, and then in a next day meeting actually a church. It was obvious that there was a little distance between me and this person, I could tell that I could tell, there wasn’t a warmth, there wasn’t the normal friendship that we had. So, I have to come to agree to reality that there is a separation of the two of us and if I leave that alone. That separation can widen and widen and widen and we could become enemies, I mean it happens all the time. I hear of situations where maybe somebody had a disagreement with a brother, as adults, and they haven’t talked to that person for five or 10 years, all over something that happened that was relatively minor. And so I believe that we as Christians must work at clearing our conscience and being willing to take the extra step to make sure that we haven’t done something to offend somebody. It’s really serious and it can grow into a really serious problem, and it can grow into a habit with people that they’re always holding a grudge against somebody, somebody did something wrong to me a year ago or five years ago or two months ago and I’m still mad at him. That’s not godly, and I’ve come to conclusion, that’s the Holy Spirit. That brings us to my remembrance that brings me and I want to say, for my own good, is reminding me, is that spirit of God is saying take care of that. Go to that person and resolve that go to that person with words of kindness and say things like, I know there was hard words spoken, a few days ago or a week ago and now no room remember that. But I’ve come to you to clear the air. I apologize, I, I purposely asked you to forgive me for the words I said, The words that I was was communicated and the way I communicated it, I don’t want that to stand between you and I, I want you to be my friend I want it to be over, please can we do that. Now the other person cannot doesn’t necessarily have to agree to that maybe they hold a grudge. I can’t change their, their mind, their approach to this, but I’m gonna do everything I can to live peaceably amongst those that are around me, and it doesn’t mean that I’m weak, oh they’re the weak person so you’re the one that went over and apologize. No, it’s quite the opposite. I’m the strong person, because I went there and made reconciliation, I cleared the air. I actually believe this is one of the original and initial steps that we take in learning how the Spirit of God leads us in another lesson, I’m going to talk about how to be led by the Spirit of God in business, and we all want God to lead us and guide us and we come to the subject for how to, how does God lead us. I want to know how God leads you and there’s another lesson, like I say that I’m going to talk about that, but I now believing that the very first step of that is what I’m talking here with clearing our conscience when I’ve had with somebody and I go to bed with that it first of all would be better and with my spouse, to not go to bed, not to go to sleep to clear the air before you go to bed because you probably won’t sleep very well, but if for sure. The next morning I wake up, and that’s still on my mind, I’m still thinking about it, it’s still bugging me it’s really consuming a part of my thought pattern, then I know must go to that person and make reconciliation, and I believe that’s the Holy Spirit that is guiding me and leading me to do that. And here’s how important that is, we’re all saying God lead me Holy Spirit lead me, but if I can’t respond to His leading on that simplest of things to say I’m sorry. What I did was not intended to hurt. By the way, you would never go to that person and say this, oh by the way, I’m sorry that you misunderstood me. And that you are upset about what I said. That is not an apology. I’m going with openness to say, I am wrong. And the way I handled that was wrong and I wished I hadn’t done it on I asked you to forgive me. I want to be your friend. I want to be reconciled and have a friendship with you as much as you allow me, that’s what the Spirit of God would have us to do, and we can’t really ask God to, to lead us on all big business ideas and lead me in my finances and lead me into the career and lead me if I can’t actually follow the Spirit of God on some of the more simple things and maybe the most simple thing, how to be led by the Spirit of God, to honor that nudge that, that, that prompting to go say I’m sorry, I had to do this many times I’m regretful to say there’s a point in time when I sold my first business after 17 years and through the last several months of that, it was a little tense, and I remember three distinct times that I verbally climbed all over three different people, I use my tongue as a sword. I let them know what I was thinking, I let them know I was upset. I let them know with no question, I was upset with it mad at them, and walked away. And it was interesting, I sold my business, and the next morning, really the very next morning that I was free of that responsibility. I woke and those three names came to me, Oh, my goodness. And it just hung with me, those three people that I had verbally attack them. And with humidity, I called, each one of them. And I said, Do you remember what happened there a couple months ago and I regret it is this way late here, months later, and they remembered, and I’m saying something to the effect. I want you to forgive me, I was totally wrong and the way I handled that I used words that were not pleasing, I regret that I say it, and if you could have it in your heart to forgive me of that I would appreciate that. I want to reconcile. Now, and sincerity in my voice. And again, it’s up to them to respond with their heart, they don’t, they can’t, I can’t force them to forgive me, but I’ve wrestled with this and approach this, to have a clear conscience towards that person. This is not a minor thing. This is something that could affect you, and it has been affecting relationships for years and years and years for many Christians, and it’s important that we put that to rest. Well, I thank you for being a part of inspiring Metro business.