(THE GREATEST HINDERANCE TO SPIRITUALGROWTH)
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Nobleton Community Church
29084 Sentinel Street PO Box 224
Nobleton, Florida 34661
Rev. Paul V. Lehmann, Pastor
813-389-8683
Nobletoncommunitychurch.org
info@nobletoncommunitychurch.org
OUR VISION IS:
To experience SPIRIT-FILLED WORSHIP AND PRAYER
To be involved in EVANGELISM, DISCIPLINING AND TRAINING PEOPLE
To use our SPIRITUAL GIFTS
To SERVE AND REACH PEOPLE FOR CHRIST, BOTH
“ACROSS THE STREET AND ACROSS THE WORLD”
Nobleton Community Church
Date June 22, 2025
Text Colossians 3:12-14; Romans 12: 17-21; Matt. 22:37-39
Pastor Paul Lehmann
There are many things which hinder spiritual growth We have talked about many different things that keep us from growing spiritually. It is difficult to narrow it down and say that there is one single factor which is greater than all the others. The most obvious thing which comes to mind of course is sin, but we are talking this morning about the dedicated Christian, born of the Spirit of God and trying to walk in the light of His Word. This is the person who really wants to get close to the Lord, obey Him and walk in the Spirit. This kind of Christian doesn’t have any problem with his relationship with the Lord because of open sin in his life. There is nothing between him or her and their Lord. But there may be plenty between this person and other people. This person’s problem is relational with people, not with God.
Do not take revenge, but leave room for God’s wrath.”
You see, God is to take revenge, not you. “I will repay, says the Lord.” On the contrary, Paul says in Romans 12:17-21: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Now sometimes we may wonder just what that verse is all about. Bishop K.C. Pillai from India, writes about this in his book: “Light Through an Eastern Window.” He says; “ I believe that Westerners think that this is some form of revenge. The saying originated, however, from the way in which the coals of fire are carried from one household to another in the Eastern villages. One woman who has the flint, rises first and builds the fire, and a boy then takes the burning coals on a piece of pottery, balanced on top of his head, to the other households. This is really a pleasant task for the boy because when the morning is cold, he becomes warmed by the coals as he goes about his rounds. The verse is an extension of the admonition, “Bless them who curse you; pray for them that despitefully use you,” since if you heap coals of fire on his head you may warm him up and change his mind and heart, and persuade him to put away his evil ways.
Now WHAT IS THE NATURE OF RESENTMENT?
There are four things.
- The first thing about it is that it is usually only subjective and nobody knows it but you and God. You let that build up inside of you and eat away at you. What you should have done before this resentment built up in you, was to ask for forgiveness for anything that you have done to cause a problem in this relationship.
There are wrong ways to ask for forgiveness however.
You might say in an angry tone;
“I’m sorry” and this forces the other person to snap back—“well I’m sorry too”
Or it could be reversed and they say it first, and you are the one who responds in an unkind way.
Then too, you might say: “ I apologize! What you might be thinking and even might add; “I’m sorry about that, but it wasn’t all my fault. In other words, you aren’t accepting much responsibility for what happened.
Especially if you say; “I was wrong, but you were too!”
PRIDE enters into the situation if you say:
If I’ve been wrong, please forgive me.
What you are saying is; “If my personality (for which I’m not responsible for), has offended you, there must be something wrong with your ability to get along with others. But I’ll be big-hearted about this and assume that maybe it’s my fault, (which I’m not fully convinced that it is,) and ask you to forgive me. –that is—if you still think I’m wrong.
Don’t say this either; “ I’m sorry about the way I talked to you, or worse about the way I lied to you. –Please forgive me. Here is pride again. It is hard to say—I was wrong.
WHAT WE SHOULD SAY IS VERY SIMPLE—
I was wrong. Will you forgive me?
Sometimes even unknowingly, you maybe don’t realize the resentment you have inside of you.
When you do realize it,
it turns into the second thing in the nature of this resentment—
- A personal “pity-party.” You begin to pity yourself –
- Then it lodges in you as a grudge.
- Now you have a “debtor” or a “trespasser”—Words used in the Lord’s prayer in Matthew 6:12. —And you don’t want to forgive your debtor. Sin is pictured in the prayer as a debt. Sin incurs a debt which must be discharged. If then someone owes us such a debt , and we fail to release him by forgiving him, our own debts before our Heavenly Father will not be forgiven by Him, and we will not be released.
You may wonder why you have so much bondage in your spiritual life. You have no freedom, and can’t really go on with the Lord, to another level. You experience no blessing in your life. The fact that you refuse to forgive someone who has offended you may be the cause.
Our problem remember is relational—with other people. The acts of our sinful nature are obvious Paul says in Galatians 5:20. Look at this list. In the middle there are 8 things.
- Hatred—the opposite of love. It speaks of hostility in whatever form manifested.
- Discord—Contention, strife, and even fighting. (Paul says; “you bite and devour one another)
- Jealousy—unfriendly feeling excited by another’s possession of goods—You aren’t happy about the honors or blessings you see others receiving.
- Fits of rage (anger) bad temper and hostile feelings.
- Selfish ambition—self-seeking
- Dissention and division
- Factions—joining “clicks” and self-willed opinions that separate you from others.
- Envy—you are pained at what someone else has. (this is like jealousy) This is defined as; “ the eager desire for possession created by the spectacle of another’s possessions. —Someone’s new car, or house, or anything that you wish you had.
Our relationship with God was warm and wonderful and we want to go on with Him. We want to walk in the Spirit. —-It’s like you are walking around saying; “ Don’t bother me, I am walking in the Spirit!—but your nose is in the air and inside your heart is resentment. It might be against the pastor, or former pastor, your father, or your mother, your EX, your kids, your brothers or sisters, or others in you family, your doctor, or neighbors etc. Maybe even people in this church
How do we get this all straightened out?
Who wants to bother? Who needs it? YOU NEED IT, AND YOU KNOW IT. You know there is a problem. It is relational –that’s the problem. You have blamed everyone else for the problem.
God wants to show you that the problem is YOU, and your relationship with other people. OK—There is nothing wrong with your relationship with God—but with people—-and unfortunately with other Christians. The problem is that our relationship with God is also affected.
Now—HOW DO WE GET RELEASED FROM RESENTMENT?
There are four things again—
- You have to understand what God means by a testing. Don’t you wish God would put up a sign that says; “ This is a test”
Like someone puts a dent in your car door on your car that you just bought—obviously they opened their door in a parking lot and did it. Or maybe you get cut off on the road—“this is a test” Or your spouse or someone in your family, says something to you that is hard to take—“this is a test” –You get the idea. The problem is He doesn’t always make it clear, until after we have blown in by our reaction. Then we must ask Him for forgiveness, and probably someone else that we have yelled at, or worse.
- We need to understand the sovereignty of God.
We must learn to say—God I don’t understand it, but I accept it. Nothing can come into your life unless it passes by Him first. Even things that Satan causes, Satan has to pass it by God first. (Remember Job)
- Then acceptance with joy. When we do this, good things will happen. (Naaman’s going to get healed) eg. You remember that story in II Kings 5:1-27? He was the commander of the King of Aram’s army. He had leprosy. Elisha heard about it and called for him to come and be healed. He told him to go and dip himself in the Jordan river seven times, and he will be healed. Naaman’s pride got in the way, and he didn’t want to do it. His servants said to him, if the prophet had asked you to do some great thing, you would have done it wouldn’t you. So they convinced him to do what he said, and he was healed of his leprosy.
- You need to know about the spiritual prison God puts us in. When we store up hidden resentments in our innermost being, God shuts us up in a prison so to speak, and withholds his blessing from us. We must ask God to release us and then cleansing must begin. You will experience freedom of the Spirit and you can go on with God.
You can pray: “ Dear Lord, I release my resentment, forgive me for the hidden resentments that I have held against him, (or her). This has to be your prayer, and then go to the person if they are still living, and if it is possible. It might be that you also have to ask forgiveness for resentment that you have held against God, for something that happened, that you didn’t understand. —You can pray—“ I release my resentment just now—forgive my feeling towards you, and/or —and you name the person. I forgive them in Jesus’ name. Then don’t beat yourself up over it—you must forgive yourself—and allow the healing balm of the Holy Spirit to flow over you and bring the forgiveness and release that you long for.