Latest / Bible Chat Devotional / May 29 - The Responsibility of Our Words

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May 29 - The Responsibility of Our Words · Bible Chat Devotional

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  Welcome to Bible Chat, where we have devotional conversations
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  rooted in Scripture and relevant for today.
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  May 29th Guard your heart. Guard your words.
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  Have you ever watched a small spark turn into something much
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  bigger than anyone intended? A comment that seemed harmless,
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  A rumor passed along without thinking, A heated reply in a
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  group chat, and suddenly something is burning that wasn't
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  there before. Words have that kind of power.
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  They travel fast, and they leave marks that are hard to undo.
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  Proverbs chapter 16, verses 27 to 30 describes this vividly.
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  A worthless person's speech is like a scorching fire.
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  Perversity is planned. Evil is brought to pass through
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  careless or malicious words. The imagery is intense, but if
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  you've ever been on the receiving end of damaging words
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  or watched a friendship get destroyed by gossip, you know
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  the description is accurate. Words are not neutral.
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  They carry weight, direction, and consequence.
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  But here's the thing. Proverbs isn't just talking
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  about obviously cruel people. The warning runs wider than
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  that. It's talking about anyone who
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  speaks without thinking, who passes along something damaging
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  without considering the cost, who uses their words to
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  manipulate or wound. That can be any of us on a bad
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  day, which is why this passage calls us to guard something
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  deeper than just our mouths. Psalm 61 verse 5 brings in a
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  stabilizing truth for you, O God, have heard my vows.
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  You have given me the heritage. Of those who fear your name,
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  David is reminding himself and us that he belongs to God.
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  He has a heritage, a place, a standing with the Lord.
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  And when your identity is secure in that, when you know who you
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  belong to and who you are, you're less likely to speak from
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  a place of insecurity, fear, or bitterness.
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  A lot of damaging words come from a wounded place inside us.
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  We lash out because we're hurting.
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  We gossip because we want to feel better by comparison.
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  We say sharp things because we feel powerless.
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  But when you know God hears you, when you bring your struggles to
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  Him, instead of venting them sideways onto other people,
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  something shifts. Ephesians chapter 4, verse 31 is
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  direct and practical. Let all bitterness and wrath and
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  anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with
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  all malice. All of it.
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  Not just the obvious stuff, but the quiet resentment, the
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  passive aggression, the subtle digs disguised as jokes put it
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  away. And the verse following, which
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  asks you to be kind, tender hearted, and forgiving toward
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  one another, makes clear that this isn't just about what you
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  stop doing. It's about what you start doing
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  instead. Your heart is the source.
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  Whatever is filling it is what will eventually spill out
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  through your words, your tone, your reactions.
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  If you've been carrying frustration, fear, jealousy, or
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  unresolved hurt, it will find its way into your mouth at some
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  point. That's not a condemnation.
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  It's just how human beings work. Which is why the real work isn't
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  just about watching your words. It's about tending your heart,
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  bringing what's there, all of it, to God, who can actually
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  deal with it rather than just suppress it.
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  Today, before you send the message, before you join the
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  conversation, before you speak into a tense moment, pause.
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  Check what's driving the words. And if what you find there isn't
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  something you'd be comfortable bringing before God, maybe
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  that's the thing to address first.
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  Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank You for
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  being my refuge and the one who truly hears me.
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  Help me to bring my frustrations, my hurts, and my
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  anxieties to You before they spill out sideways and damage
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  the people I care about. Guard my heart, Lord, because I
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  know my words. Follow my heart where there is
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  bitterness or resentment or anger inside me.
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  Bring Your healing and help me to replace all of that with
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  kindness, patience and grace. Words that build up rather than
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  tear down, that spread life rather than damage.
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  In Jesus name, Amen. What if the battles hitting your
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  family are not random and your home can become a place where
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  darkness loses every right to stay?
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  The Secured Home is a powerful six book prayer series for
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  believers who want to guard their households with biblical
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  authority, peace and confidence in Jesus Christ.
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  Book 1, Guarded Thresholds, fortifies every doorway, room,
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  and entry point with prayerful protection.
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  Book 2, Cleansed Rooms, helps reclaim spaces marked by fear,
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  unrest, and spiritual defilement.
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  Book 3, Closed Breaches, exposes hidden access points and severs
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  every agreement with darkness. Book 4, Broken Assignments,
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  confronts oppression, torment, and attacks against your family.
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  Book 5, Consecrated Walls, dedicates every space and rhythm
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  of the home to God. Book 6, Abiding Peace, shows how
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  to maintain spiritual order, rest, and holy presence every
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  day. Order now on Amazon or visit
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  prayerscripts.org. Now I invite you to spend time
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  with God in today's three-year Bible reading plan.
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  Proverbs Chapter 16 Verses 27 to 30 World English Bible A
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  worthless man devises mischief. His speech is like a scorching
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  fire. A perverse man stirs up strife.
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  A whisperer separates close friends.
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  A man of violence entices his neighbor and leads him in a way
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  that is not good. One who winks his eyes to plot
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  perversities. One who compresses his lips is
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  bent on evil. Psalm Chapter 61 World English
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  Bible Hear my cry God, listen to my prayer from the end of the
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  earth. I will call to you when my heart
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  is overwhelmed. Lead me to the rock that is
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  higher than I. For you have been a refuge for
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  me, a strong tower from the enemy.
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  I will dwell in your tent forever.
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  I will take refuge in the shelter of your wings.
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  For you, God, have heard my vows.
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  You have given me the heritage of.
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  Those who fear your name, you will prolong the King's life.
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  His years will be for generations.
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  He shall be enthroned in God's presence forever.
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  Appoint your loving kindness and truth that they may preserve him
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  so. I will sing praise to your name
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  forever, that I may fulfill my vows daily.
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  Ephesians chapter 4 World English Bible.
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  I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to walk worthily
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  of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness
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  and humility, with patience, bearing with one another in
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  love, being eager to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond
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  of peace. There is one body and one
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  Spirit, even as you also were called in one hope of your
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  calling, 1 Lord, 1 faith, one baptism, one God and Father of
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  all, who is over all and through all, and in us all.
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  But to each one of us the grace was given according to the
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  measure of the gift of Christ. Therefore he says, when He
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  ascended on high, He led captivity captive and gave gifts
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  to people. Now this he ascended.
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  What is it but that He also first descended into the lower
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  parts of the earth? He who descended is the one who
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  also ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all
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  things. He gave some to be apostles, and
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  some prophets, and some evangelists, and some shepherds
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  and teachers, for the perfecting of the Saints.
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  To the work of serving. To the building up of the body
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  of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of
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  the knowledge of the Son of God. To a full grown man.
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  To the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, that we
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  may no longer be children tossed back and forth, and carried
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  about with every wind of doctrine by the trickery of men
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  in craftiness after the Wiles of error.
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  But speaking truth in love, we may grow up in all things into
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  Him who is the Head Christ, from whom all the body being fitted
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  and knit together, through that which every joint supplies
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  according to the working and measure of each individual part,
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  makes the body increase to the building up of itself in love.
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  This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you no
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  longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles also walk, in the
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  futility of their mind being darkened in their understanding,
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  alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is
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  in them, because of the hardening of their hearts, They,
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  having become callous, gave themselves up to lust, to work
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  all uncleanness with greediness. But you didn't learn Christ that
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  way, if indeed you heard Him and were taught in Him, even as
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  truth is in Jesus. That you put away as concerning
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  your former way of life the old man that grows corrupt after the
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  lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your
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  mind, and put on the new man who in the likeness of God has been
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  created in righteousness and holiness of truth, Therefore
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  putting away falsehood, speak truth, each one with his
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  neighbor, for we are members of one another.
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  Be angry and don't sin. Don't let the sun go down on
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  your wrath, and don't give place to the devil.
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  Let him who stole steal no more, but rather let him labor,
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  producing with his hands something that is good, that he
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  may have something to give to him who has need.
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  Let no corrupt speech proceed out of your mouth, but only what
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  is good for building others up, as the need may be, that it may
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  give grace to those who hear. Don't grieve the Holy Spirit of
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  God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
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  Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, outcry and slander be put
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  away from you with all malice, and be kind to one another,
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  tender hearted, forgiving each other, just as God also in
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  Christ forgave you. Thanks for joining us on Bible
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  Chat, where Scripture meets everyday life.
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  If today's devotional encouraged you, share it with a friend and
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  be sure to follow the podcast so you won't miss the next
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  conversation. Until next time, stay rooted in
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  truth, anchored in hope, and walking daily with.
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  Jesus.