Study Guide


Overcoming Your Harmfulness















love the Lord: they way our heart should be

Closest related principles - Core Interrelations taken from interrelations below.


Refusing God's invitation keeps you from believing.
    The blessings of heaven come from following the Teacher;
He said to love the Lord and your neighbor.
(principles from MT22:1-40)

Love the Lord and your neighbor too; it's the greatest. (principles from MK12:28-34)

Love the Lord (to love Him you have to believe in Him) and your neighbor, seeking their good, offering help to relieve their suffering, and you will be judged to live. (principles from LK10:25-37)

God the Father and Jesus his Son continue working. They are together and show the principles by what they do. Jesus gives life to whom he is pleased to give it, and He has been given authority to judge whether we believe His word and do good (whether we really love the Lord more than our selfish ways), because as a man he knows us. Those who do these things have eternal life, those who don't will be condemned. Jesus seeks to please God the Father, and judges according to His principles. Jesus' work shows He came from the Father. Believing in Jesus brings God and his word into you, so don't refuse him and side with others. Refusing to put effort into following his teachings keeps people from believing. Believe and live! (principles from JH5:16-5:47)



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harm from within

Closest related principles - Core Interrelations taken from interrelations below.


Unbelievers you grew up with may reject your new life in Christ. You can do amazing things to help people when you believe.
      If you refuse the Teacher you will not
overcome the harm from within.
           Your insensitivity will cause God to disconnect from you and then you will be overcome by your harmful desires. (principles from
principles from MT13:53-15:20)

To begin with, repent, repent, repent of things like your preoccupation with money and worldly things. Turn, and forcefully do things in the other direction, toward the Lord. Recognize the harmful desires in your heart and value overcoming them (even though people may approve of them), showing the Lord you care about Him and His way of life, his everlasting principles. Divorcing your spouse and then marrying someone else is adultery (unless the one you divorced was maritally unfaithful, see MT 19:9); don't be insensitive to what Jesus says. Don't cause others to sin; there is a heavy price to pay. Forgive your brother when he repents. Humble serving is our duty. (principles from LK15:1-17:10)

The rich will only enter the kingdom of heaven with great difficulty; it is hard to give away a large portion of your wealth (see also LK 19:1-10), (soften the heart and repent of that selfishness). God will  bestow many blessings of heaven on those who give things up for Jesus' sake. And for those who get puffed up and think they are better than others, He will take action to help overcome this harmful problem. God will put us to work in fruitful ways and reward us after we are finished. Don't grumble against God's generosity toward other believers. (principles from MT19:15-20:16)



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what's inside comes out

Closest related principles - Core Interrelations taken from interrelations below.


Jesus is gentle, not loud and quarrelsome, and has inner harmony. Unbelief is against God and His goodness, and if you have it, it will come out. Unbelief puts you in the dark with
evil beings. Apply the principles (one is to believe in Jesus) and join the family of God. (principles from MT12:15-50)

Our Teacher said serving is the greatest, he who humbles himself. Woe to the hypocrite! (prideful one) Rather have mercy on your neighbor. Having faith in God you can overcome your harmful desires through actions such as these. Otherwise you will be deceived by your unbelieving heart, as evidenced by what your life visibly produces. Refusal brings judgement into eternal fire because it shows a prideful will to not believe God's Word about Jesus, and not put yourself at His command to love your neighbor. (principles from MT23:1-39)

God sees and takes action against our hidden pride and our pursuit of riches. (principles from LK1:39-56)



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human frailty and vulnerability

Closest related principles - Core Interrelations taken from interrelations below.


It is greater to serve, and one can lead from there. Satan may persecute you for a while, but Jesus helps you stay faithful. Loving your enemies can be quite different from defending yourself from someone who is trying to kill you. Pray that you will not fall into temptation. (principles from LK22:24-46)

Relationship problems are caused by the bad things we do from the harmfulness in our hearts.
...Looking at women lustfully is adulterous and leads you into hell.
...You may really have to get a handle on the harmfulness in your heart in order not to get divorced.
...The harmer may take away your worldly things, burden you, or attack your dignity.
........So it's not easy because now you must lovingly offer yourself to them
.
...Don't do your giving, good deeds, and praying to be seen by others, as the hypocrites do.

...Don't swear by God or anything else, simply say 'yes' or 'no'.
...We better ask God to help us quit doing all these things that are bad to do.
...
We worship from start to end and along the way we overcome our frail harmful nature, after applying God's will to our life; giving up the worldly things and forgiving each other. (principles from MT5:21-6:15)

Ask God to lead us not into temptation, and to help us find the good life that He wants us to have. He will give the Holy Spirit to His children who ask him. (principles from LK11:1-13)

Jesus is the Savior of the world and if you do what he says you will reap the benefits. Jesus came from the Father and if you believe in Him you will be saved. He says what God says, so apply it and reap the benefits. You can't fool God and He sees your frailty; He knows when you hate accepting what's good. Repent, choose to follow Jesus, who is God, because you really need Him to live. (principles from JH8:12-59) Jesus shows the world true life; follow Him and you will continually have it. Jesus came from God the Father and if you believe in Him you will not die in the midst of your harmful ways. Since Jesus always lives by and speaks according to what he learned from the Father, the Father is with him. If you hold to Jesus' teachings (one is to believe in Him), you are really his disciple and will know and be set free by the truth. People are enslaved by their harmful ways, but Jesus can set us free if we choose to accept the truth of His teachings for our lives. Otherwise, we will not recognize that Jesus is God, and does no harm.

Even though we are all so frail, Jesus is coming back to Judge, looking to see who overcame their harmful desires and is applying the principles (one is believing in Him); so apply them now, don't wait, it's essential, essential, essential, the Judge is coming! He will separate those who applied them from those who didn't. (principles from MT24:3-26:2)

  "Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven--for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little." LK 7:47



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bad things to do

Closest related principles - Core Interrelations taken from interrelations below.


Leave the lifeless and go to your Savior, never looking back. Then you will be ready to serve in the kingdom of God. Evil spirits and some unbelievers are enemies to the believers, seek to harm the believers sent out amongst them, but believers have power to overcome their power. (principles from LK9:51-10:24)

Relationship problems are caused by the bad things we do from the harmfulness in our hearts.
...
Looking at women lustfully is adulterous and leads you into hell.
...You may really have to get a handle on the harmfulness in your heart in order not to get divorced.
...The harmer may take away your worldly things, burden you, or attack your dignity.
........So it's not easy because now you must lovingly offer yourself to them.
...
Don't do your giving, good deeds, and praying to be seen by others, as the hypocrites do.
...
Don't swear by God or anything else, simply say 'yes' or 'no'.
...We better ask God to help us quit doing all these things that are bad to do.
...
We worship from start to end and along the way we overcome our frail harmful nature, after applying God's will to our life; giving up the worldly things and forgiving each other. (principles from MT5:21-6:15)

The rich will only enter the kingdom of heaven with great difficulty; it is hard to give away a large portion of your wealth (see also LK 19:1-10), (soften the heart and repent of that selfishness). God will bestow many blessings of heaven on those who give things up for Jesus' sake. And for those who get puffed up and think they are better than others, He will take action to help overcome this harmful problem. God will put us to work in fruitful ways and reward us after we are finished. Don't grumble against God's generosity toward other believers. (principles from MT19:15-20:16)



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money and worldly things

Closest related principles - Core Interrelations taken from interrelations below.


Relationship problems are caused by the bad things we do from the harmfulness in our hearts.
...Looking at women lustfully is adulterous and leads you into hell.
...You may really have to get a handle on the harmfulness in your heart in order not to get divorced.
...
The harmer may take away your worldly things, burden you, or attack your dignity.
........So it's not easy because now you must lovingly offer yourself to them
.
...Don't do your giving, good deeds, and praying to be seen by others, as the hypocrites do.

...Don't swear by God or anything else, simply say 'yes' or 'no'.
...We better ask God to help us quit doing all these things that are bad to do.
...
We worship from start to end and along the way we overcome our frail harmful nature, after applying God's will to our life; giving up the worldly things and forgiving each other. (principles from MT5:21-6:15)
...You can't tell right from wrong when
you're so caught up with running after money and worldly things.
...Only
Jesus our Savior can distract us from our worldly pursuits
; He provides.
...Once you start judging, you're going to have relationship problems.
...Some unbelievers may attack you when you tell them what you most highly value.
...If we love our unbelieving neighbors we'll ask God to heal them and He'll take action on their behalf.
...Better have some faith because they are going to need it.
...The way is narrow and you can't buck the system.
...After all is said and done you better have done what God said. (principles from MT6:19-7:29)

Some unbelievers deceive people away from the truth, from God Himself. They and their followers will be exposed and judged unfavorably, and what they did in private will be proclaimed to everyone. As for open harmfulness, God will take away the life of anyone who is greedy for possessions and a life of leisure. Give a large portion of your wealth to the poor (see also LK 19:1-10), and don't wait. Be ready to meet the Lord. We all must repent or perish. Though the Lord is patient, our time does have a limit. (principles from LK11:53-13:9)

To begin with, repent, repent, repent of things like your preoccupation with money and worldly things. Turn, and forcefully do things in the other direction, toward the Lord. Recognize the harmful desires in your heart and value overcoming them (even though people may approve of them), showing the Lord you care about Him and His way of life, his everlasting principles. Divorcing your spouse and then marrying someone else is adultery (unless the one you divorced was maritally unfaithful, see MT 19:9); don't be insensitive to what Jesus says. Don't cause others to sin; there is a heavy price to pay. Forgive your brother when he repents. Humble serving is our duty. (principles from LK15:1-17:10)

"And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares [worries WU] and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection [maturity]." Lk 8:14

To do the work of God is to believe in Jesus, the One God sent to us to save us from sin (harm) and evil. That said, don't be insensitive to His communication toward you; He wants and can enable you to live like He does, and wants to keep you. Believe and be saved! Listen to and learn from what God says so you can tell the difference between right and wrong. This will help a lot, make it natural for you to home in as God draws you in to believing in Jesus, who came from Him, and be saved. Then God will live in you and He will enable you to succeed at applying His principles, overcoming all your harmful desires. (principles from JH6:25-6:65)

A believer's death may spawn the birth of other believers. Those who love having their sinful (harmful) nature and the ways of this world as part of their life, and set their hearts on pursuing worldly things, will die forever, while those who hate all this and serve the Lord instead, even though they may be persecuted to death, will find eternal life. To serve Jesus you must follow Jesus' path, and you will be honored by God the Father. Jesus draws us into eternal life in heaven. Those who do not keep Jesus' teachings (one is to believe in Him) do not know where their life is taking them. They do not produce the fruit of applying the principles of God, and will be condemned in the end. (principles from JH12:20-50)



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overcoming

Closest related principles - Core Interrelations taken from interrelations below.


Jesus has authority over all of us; we need the Father and Son to bring us into eternal life, which is knowing Him. We will glorify Him by doing all the work He has given us to do. Jesus and the Father are one; the Father will protect us to keep His people one with each other. The Father and the Son will be in us, and us in them. Jesus is giving us all His joy. Even though the world hates us, God will protect us from the evil one. And through Jesus, we can overcome our own harmful desires. The world will know Jesus came from God and that God loves us when they see we believers are in God, and when they see the way believers love each other and the complete unity God brings about in us, which is a glorious thing. And these are things we pray about; that God will protect us from evil, make us one with each other, and set us apart by the truth of His word. Our believing in Jesus will bring us into heaven. God loves us and lives with us. (principles from
JH17:1-17:26)

Love your neighbor, being careful not to offend him. Show the childlike humility that leads one into true believing and greatness. Unbelievers tend to cause believers to sin (do harmful things); they better take as strong a measure as possible to stop or they will be sorry. Perhaps one of the best ways to overcome our harmful desires is through serving others. Jesus served us by coming to find us and save us when we had gone astray. When you start serving others and have your relationships with others inline with the principles in spite of all the problems that come up, and this involves A LOT of forgiving and mercy (these are the fruits of true believing), then you can ask what you wish from the Father, and it is yours. (principles from MT17:24-18:35)



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