 Okay, I'm reading from Probes chapter 18, and a few of you guys are here, that is, maybe verse 7, Fool's mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul. Fool's mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul. Then, it's going on to verses 20, 21 and 22. A man's stomach shall be satisfied from the fruit of his lips. From the produce of his lips he shall be satisfied. Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit. Then, in the same thought, it just goes on to say, he who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord. But I just want us to focus on verse 7, verse 20 and verse 21, which talks about the power of words. Verse 7 says, the lips are a snare of his soul, which means the words that we release, it can actually be a snare, it can be a trap for our soul. And it makes sense because when we speak words that are unedifying, when we speak words that are negative, words of unbelief, they are a snare for the soul. In the sense, our mind, our thoughts, our imaginations, everything, it becomes trapped by the words that we speak. When we get up in the morning and say, I think today is going to be a lousy day, I think I'm not going to do well, and things like that, when we speak, it becomes a snare for the soul, where our mind, our thoughts get trapped with these words. So our thoughts also go in the same direction, our emotions also are felt in the same way. Verse 20, a man's mouth shall be satisfied from the fruit of his mouth, from the produce of his lips he shall be filled. So the Lord has actually put down a principle from related to the words that we speak and how from the produce of our lips we shall be filled. And verse 21, death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit. In the power of the tongue, there is death and there is life. In the sense that the outcome can be so diverse and so different, and it's as extreme as death and life. And it's in the power of the tongue. In the sense that you can speak life over something, you can release words of faith, or we can speak death, negative things, and maybe it's some project, maybe it's something, you can actually speak death over it. So it's very clear, and those who love it will eat its fruit, meaning what is the outcome that we want, and we will enjoy or experience the fruit of it. So about the power of the tongue, we may know these verses, we may have heard these verses, but just a reiteration of that so that we are careful in what we speak and what we profess, what we confess, but of course it comes from what we believe as well, like the depths of our heart, right? Okay, so let's pray. Father, we thank you, thank you for this day, thank you for the way you've designed us. Lord, I thank you for the way, the principles that you've laid down in your word, or regarding the words that we speak, oh God. Father God, we thank you for the, when we look at these examples and these verses that we just read, then you look at the negative of it, God, we know that we can turn it around and look at the positive of it. The words we speak, Lord, I pray, may it bring life, maybe speak words of life, maybe speak words of faith, maybe speak words in alignment, God, with your word, maybe say what you say, Lord, about everything, about various things, Father God. And Lord, I pray that this today, that the words that we speak, oh God, will be a snare for good things, Father God, in our soul. Lord, that our soul will be positively ensnared, oh God, with good thoughts and thoughts of faith, oh God, faith-building thoughts and faith-building emotions, God, so that our strength is not drained out by unbelief or anxiety or fear, but our strength is built up in faith, God. We thank you, Lord, and we maybe choose to speak life and enjoy the fruit of it. We thank you. In Jesus' precious name we pray. Amen. Okay, God bless. Let's start from where we lost last class. We were looking at chapter 5, right? We were looking at chapter 5 and we were studying attitudes, temperament and behavior. A very important aspect to look into because of interpersonal relationship that we are studying about. It's not just us, but it also involves one other person in the light of marriage or in the light of marriage that we are considering. So when we look at all that, we see that our attitude, our temperament and our behavior really matters. Why does it matter? Because that is how we come across. That is how we come across. The way we interact, our attitude, our temperament, our personality or our behavior is put on display. When we express ourselves, when we interact with others, this is what comes on display. It's like a vehicle which expresses what's in our heart. So it's very important that we develop our attitude. It's important that we again build up our temperament, shape our temperament and also our behavior. Build our behavior. So like we said last class, we said, okay, this is how we think, the way we think, the way we perceive things, right? Perceive meaning the way we understand, collect information, understand the way we act, the way we step out and do things and the way we communicate, right? This affects us personally and this also affects us interpersonally as in the case of knowledge. So when it comes to attitude or a perceived way of thinking, a set way of thinking, a set way of looking at things, looking at situations, our attitude needs to be Christ-like. That's the first thing. Our attitude needs to be Christ-like. And we'll again look at the verses, scriptures, several verses which talk about that, that our attitude needs to be Christ-like. Secondly, our temperament, our personality, what we are like, there are different personalities and each one of us is unique shaped by what we, where we grew up, where we grew up, our experiences and all that. So our personality can be very, very different. One person can be very, very positive, very outgoing, the other person can be quiet, very reflective, very thoughtful and sometimes pessimistic, all that. So temperament needs to be spirit-led or spirit-controlled, led by the Holy Spirit, controlled by the Holy Spirit and even shaped by the Holy Spirit. That's very, very important. And the third thing is that our behavior cannot be rational, cannot be up and down all the time. But our behavior needs, our actions, our lifestyle, everything needs to be governed by the Word, governed by the Word, meaning ruled and reigned. God's government is His Word. So we need to be governed. Our behavior needs to be governed by the Word of God. So the Word of God needs to be central in our lives as individuals. Only then will it overflow into any other covenant relationship. So when it comes to attitude, we see several scriptures which talk about attitude, a set way of thinking, a set way of perceiving things. So if you're following the notes, chapter 5, looking at attitude, Christ-like attitude, we see in Philippians 2 verses 3 to 8 and verse 5 talks about the attitude that we should have, should be the one that Christ had. So it's very clear that Christ is our example and the attitude that he had is something that we need to put on or we need to emulate in our lives. Now this is important, this is applicable in marriage or I would say more so in marriage. The New King James says, let this mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus. So our way of looking at things needs to be the way Jesus would. The way our thoughts, our thought patterns, our analysis of things would be how the Lord would, the way we interact with people, the way we consider people who are maybe more talented than us, more skilled than us, the way we consider people who are rude to us, who are unkind, who speak rude words, who speak unkind words. The way we perceive them, the way we interact with them should start with this mind, that our mind, our attitude should be that of Christ. So it's very important. So that will actually, if you look at it, that will solve a lot of problems. Many times when it comes to marriage, we kind of let down our guard over a period of time and we say, okay, this is now where I don't put on any masks. So I will be myself, I will be, so I'm just going to be who I am. So we let whatever comes to our mind and sometimes our attitude is the worst when it comes to people who are close to us. That's the pathetic part of it. People who are close to us, maybe in the home, people who, because there is no guard, there are no masks. So we let down our guard and our attitude is the worst at home with the loved ones. But the fact is that this verse, let this mind be in you, that was in Christ Jesus, applies to the closest and the most valued of relationships, covenant relationships as well. So in marriage with a spouse, this verse applies. So this will actually set us or position us for our relationship to be successful to thrive. So this is what it says. Okay, so let's look at one more scripture that is 1 Thessalonians 516 where Paul says, rejoice always. Pray at all times, be thankful in all circumstances, and this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. Rejoice always. So maybe we've read this verse and we've sung this while ministering to people. We've sung it, we've said, this is a great way to start maybe a worship set and we say, I'm just trying to see the New King James. Rejoice always, pray without seizing. So it's a great way when we use it to minister to people, but then personally for us, is that our attitude? I know it's a challenging one. We might say we can come out with a number of reasons why our attitude is this and not how it should be. We can say it's because of this, but then mindful of the fact that Paul wrote it, not in the best of circumstances. Especially when you look at Philippians 2, when he writes Philippians 2 and verse 14, do everything without complaining or arguing. So that you may be innocent and pure. Let me just look at, read out from the New King James as well. Do all things without complaining and disputing that you may become blameless and harmless children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation among whom you shine as lights in the world. So in whatever environment, whether it's the home, whether it's the workspace, everything, this applies. So complaining, arguing, I think our complaining level is the highest if you have a complainometer within the full walls of the home. Complaining level or arguing level, everything is at its highest if you have to measure it. So this applies here. So this should be our attitude that we be Christ like. And we have qualities like selflessness, humility, sacrifice, being joyful, being thankful, being prayerful. All that these scriptures talk about, like Philippians 4 verses 4 to 8. Let me just read that. Philippians 4, 4 to 8. Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Verse 5, chapter 4 verse 5, let your gentleness be known. So is my gentleness known in this relationship, known in marriage towards my spouse? Or is a spouse only aware of the kind of rudeness, the bluntness, or maybe sometimes even silence? So this attitude is a big thing. So maybe as individuals, as single people, maybe we didn't really check on this. Just as like believers, you're all growing, you're all maturing and the need is more when it comes to marriage. If there's some fast track to do this, I think single people who are looking out or considering marriage should really apply this because it will really solve a lot of things. It will position personally the person considering marriage for a good start. So the opposite of these qualities, Christ-like qualities, or what we can call as un-Christ-like qualities or attitudes, we need to check. Let me just read through the list, which is in our notes. I think it can be an eye-opener. It is there in scripture, all these scriptures, but if you read that list, I think it can be an eye-opener. Let me just go through that. Anger, arrogance, being argumentative, blaming others, bitterness, controlling, condescending, meaning looking down on others all the time. Cowardice, being fearful, not taking decisions, not stepping up to our responsibilities. That's how it applies, cowardice in marriage. Complaining, critical all the time, cunning, being manipulative, cynical, demanding, depressive, dishonest, dissatisfaction, discontentment, deceptive, envy, greed, guarded, guilt, hatred, inadequacy, indifference, intolerance, insecurity, irresponsibility, jealousy, judgmental, low self-esteem, lust, manipulative, negativity, overly assertive, overly aggressive, pessimism, prejudice, pride, resentment, revengeful, rude, sarcasm, secretive, self-centeredness, selfishness, shame, sceptical, stingy, suspicious, thoughtlessness, unforgiving, untrusting, unsympathetic, victimized. It's a bad list, a bad list of bad attitude, but it's a descriptive list and I think it will do well, we'll do well to avoid it, we'll do well to come out of it. There could be shades of this in our lives, especially in our close relationships. There could be shades of this in our lives and we need to come out of it, we need to develop ourselves, come out of it. So when we have these kind of attitudes in us or ingrained in us, it actually, the way we perceive things changes, the way we see things, the way we see others. Let's say if we are always negative, always cynical maybe, because of various reasons or suspicious, because maybe whomever we met, interacted with, could not be trusted or over a period of time they did something, they were unfaithful and untrustworthy. So when we have a very suspicious attitude, we begin to see others through that lens all the time. The person is, my spouse is talking to someone, I wonder what he is talking, I wonder what she is saying, maybe it's about me. Why is that person talking to another guy or another girl, what is it, maybe it's something, maybe they're being unfaithful. Things like that are extremely suspicious and maybe insecure. So these attitudes have to change because if we have that suspicious nature, let's say for example, we have that suspicious attitude and we carry it into marriage and our spouse is very outgoing, friendly, outgoing, friendly, very social. It'll just create hell because every interaction we begin to suspect, every interaction, we begin to be suspicious. Initially it's just within us and the way we talk to our spouse changes, maybe initially it could be masked, it could be just within, you're trying to suppress all those emotions, suspicions and everything, but eventually it'll explode, it'll come out. At the slightest of conflict, at the slightest of arguments, it just comes out and it affects the relationship in a big way. So that's the thing. So what we see, how we perceive others, how we communicate with others and how we behave, it affects. So our negative attitudes keep us, prevent us from being Christlike. So attitude is a big thing. The second one is temperament in the sense, the way you are temperamentally, personality-wise. So that also affects the way we think, we perceive things, we behave, everything. So temperamentally, of course, scientists of human behavior, people who study human behavior say, okay, temperamentally, this slot people into, introverts and extroverts and maybe the typical classically characteristic temperaments are like sanguine, choleric, melancholy, very moody, phlegmatic and so on. So these are, this is a theory, these are based on observations. It's not proven in the sense that there could be exceptions and people can be sometimes introverted, sometimes extroverted, and people can be sometimes moody, sometimes very outgoing, etc. So there could be shades of all this. But by and large, we know that just studying this would help us. But the fact is that regardless of whatever shade or overlapping personality types that we could be, or maybe we are born with and the personality type because of environment, good bad, or the behavior that we learned because of whom we grew up with, maybe the example said by parents and so on. We can always unlearn the bad. So once we have an understanding, okay, this is part of my temperament and it's not really helping me and it definitely won't help in the relationship. So I have to unlearn. I may be very uncommunicative, secretive, very close as a person. And maybe that's how I grew up. Maybe one grows up saying, okay, whatever was spoken was made fun of, belittled, cancelled out. So what happens over a period of time, the person says, I'd rather not say anything. I'll be closed. I don't want to be made fun of. I don't want to, you know, my ideas to be shot down. So I'm not going to say anything. So that's the baggage. So that behavior or that temperament can be unlearned. Where you realize that, okay, this is not helping. It's going to affect my, you know, marriage. Because if I'm going to be like this, then I cannot really, if I'm going to be, you know, I'm really fearful of being hurt because of the words that I speak fearful of being rejected because of ideas that I communicate or the love that I express. If I'm going to be fearful of that, and because of it, I don't, then, you know, it doesn't really help the relationship. I'm going to be afraid all the time. I'm going to be negative all the time. And the person who's my spouse is not able to receive anything. No expression of love. Well, you know, then ultimately there'll be some comparison and all that. So further we go into a shell. So we can unlearn these things and we can develop. Now it's going to take effort. It's going to take time. It's going to be, it's going to take some effort, but it can be done. Right. We can learn. And the beautiful thing is this, that we have as our teacher, and we have as the one who empowers us, the Holy Spirit. And he indwells us. So that's why, you know, there's so much hope in a Christian marriage and family. There's always hope, hope for change, hope for things to, you know, things to turn around. There's always hope when, you know, when a husband and wife look to the Lord and they're led by the Lord. There's always hope. So you see, you know, this whole thing of being unequally yoked. You know, again, you know, it's not something that will actually help a marriage. Right. So if the husband and the wife are looking to the Lord and not just ritualistically, you know, Christians, but really disciples of the Lord Jesus wanting to, wanting to please the Lord, his word obeys what and being led by the spirit each and every day, not just when it comes to major decisions, but also each and every day. Right. So, so this is what we see Galatians chapter five. Let's just read that what the Holy Spirit does. And what he brings into a believer's life. Galatians five, 22 talks about the fruit of the spirit, but the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control. Okay. This is the fruit of the spirit, meaning the end result of Holy Spirit working in our spirit in our heart. And we cooperating with the promptings and the leading of the Holy Spirit. So the Holy Spirit empowers us with his love. The Holy Spirit empowers us with his presence. And he brings these characteristics into our lives, into our temperament. Right. So, so that's a beautiful thing. So where there was, you know, confusion, the Holy Spirit develops and the fruit of peace is developed, is released. Where there was total negativity and moodiness and, and, you know, depression and anxiety. Holy Holy Spirit releases joy. Okay. And joy is something that's. Sometimes it's so unreasonable. Even like peace, you know, it's like peace which goes beyond our understanding. We're not able to give reason for it. We're not able to give proof for it. Joy also says joy inexpressible is what the Holy Spirit brings joy inexpressible means that I don't know. It's just outrageous. I just do stuff because of this joy. And, and where there was, you know, all these negative things, negative qualities the Holy Spirit brings. So our spirit control temperament, you know, where there, there seems to be a situation where we can go lash out, react negatively. We are responding instead of reacting. We are responding with patience. We are responding with self control. And so, so we see that, yeah, you know, the temperament is led by the spirit and, and how we think, how we see things, how we perceive, how we communicate is being changed. See, this is the normal Christian life, right? This is why the Holy Spirit came comes in and dwells us. And this normal Christian life is so, so required and important for a normal Christian marriage. So that's, that's the thing. So other scriptures, which talk about, you know, freedom in the spirit, this joy and peace by the Holy Spirit. So he brings in that he brings in his rule and reign, righteousness, peace and joy. The reign of the King, he brings into our lives. Okay. So that's about the temperament. So we looked at our attitude, we looked at temperament and then. And the third one is, you know, word governed behavior. Okay. So that's, again, a very, very important word governed behavior. So our behavior. Let me just share screen with you. All right. So word governed behavior. So that means that the word of God, the standards of God's word, everything that we see. I hope that's come onto the screen. Yeah. So everything that we see there is governed by the word of God. Okay. So there is God's government, God's ruling and God's shaping. And it's by the word of God. If you look at, let me just go to that scripture again. You know, the Lord Jesus says when it comes to, you and our expression of love for him, he says, if you love me, obey my commandments. Right. So the word of God needs to be obeyed. And the believer, for the believer, the privilege is to enjoy that outcome of obeying God. Right. And have the outcome of obeying God in his or her life. Okay. So if you love me, you will obey my commands. That's what the Lord Jesus said. And we see that the word of God, scripture, Holy scriptures are inspired by him. And, you know, so many facets of it, right, useful for teaching the truth, for reproach, for correction and instruction for and to be equipped the person, you know, the man of God, woman of God, for righteous living. Okay. And this is what, so the word of God does. So we need to be governed by the word of God. Okay. So when we look at the next verse, which is Colossians 3, 12. So here is the requirement. Okay. Let's look at that. Colossians 3 and, okay. Colossians 3, 12. Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, long suffering, bearing with one another, and forgiving one another. If anyone has a complaints against another, even as Christ forgave you, so also you must do. Okay. So let me just read that in the Good News Bible version, what we see on the screen. You know, you are the people of God. He loved you and chose you for his own. So then you must clothe yourself. Okay. So it must be part of you. With compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience. Be tolerant. Forgive one another. If you have a complaint against someone else, you must forgive just as a Lord has forgiven you. So this is a classic, if you want to say, you know, a thumb rule for marriage. Okay. If both are actively pursuing this, like both the husband and the wife are actively pursuing it, have an understanding of it and have this as their value. Okay. I'm saying that, you know, I'm going to clothe myself with this, with these characteristics. How? I'm going to be led by the Spirit. I'm going to have these, I'm going to pursue God, pursue, follow the Holy Spirit and his promptings, his instructions. And I know that he is working in me to bring out these, this fruit in me. So I'm going to do that. And I'm going to be tolerant and I'm going to forgive as God in Christ forgive. That's the standard of my forgiveness, you know. So which is, which is an amazing thing. If we would just have this kind of behavior, this kind of interaction in our lives. Okay. In first Peter chapter three, I think we looked at that verse, chapter three and verse seven. So he talks about how the husband should treat the wife and vice versa. And he says husbands likewise. So before that he says wives likewise in chapter three and verse one, husbands likewise. Sorry. Be submissive to your own husbands and so on. And then we were seven husbands likewise, dwell with them with understanding. So there's a lot of instructions given their understand, respect, et cetera. And the thing is this, so that you as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered. So nothing actually blocks out nothing acts as a ceiling for your prayers as a barrier for your prayers. And so this is nothing is stopping this, which means that if I'm not doing this, then I'm definitely, you know, letting something else interfere with my prayers because my motive is not correct. And, you know, so I'm not in the right place with God. I'm holding a grudge with another person and I'm not really being Christlike. And so, so my prayers being hindered, I'm not able to pray in faith. So the rest of the verses, you know, till verse 11, talk about what we should do and what we should not do. Okay, so a lot of important, you know, verses. So maybe look at this normally we think, okay, it's for the other person or, you know, the other person should do this with me or even for me, you know, it's for someone else out there. But it's it's right in there, someone else in the home to be recipient of this. And even if they are being faced with some cursing and etc. Okay, so don't pay back evil. Don't, which means don't be vengeful and keep back from speaking evil and stop telling to stop telling lies. Do good strive for peace with all your heart. Okay, so this leads us to the next topic which is transformation. Okay, so we are actually talking about that dealing with transformation, meaning. Okay, so all this, you know, how can my life be transformed? You know, it seems like a big ask. It seems like a big demand on my emotions on my time seems like a big demand. Okay, so how do I personally, you know, come to a place of change? Is it possible, possible for me to do something so that I can be changed? I can be transformed. Okay, so which means we're talking about radical change. Okay, is there anything that I should do? Okay, so there are four things that we know we can look at. One is for us to, you know, for us to think about, for us to actually come to an understanding with an accent. Okay, firstly is, I'm sorry, first thing is about what Christ did for us on the cross. Okay, the finished work of the Lord on the cross. You know, when we, when we consider the finished work on the cross, you know, we go to verses like Isaiah 53 and by the stripes of Jesus, I'm healed. You know, there's a great transaction. There's a great exchange that happened. His blood, blood was shed. That perfect sacrifice. So because of which I'm a new creation. Like there's a change in identity. There's a change in destiny. All that happened and I'm born again. I received a brand new spirit and all that, all that is true. And then the fact that, you know, I am healed. So this healing has to, is actually for the body, the mind, the spirit, all realms. Okay, and the fact is that the old man or the sinful nature, what was generating sin? Okay, what was actually fueling our expressions? What was fueling our behavior to live in a sinful manner? What was fueling our attitude? Okay, right from within that was put to death. Okay, so we need to understand that because if we still believe that I'm, I know I'm born again. I know I'm a child of God, but what to do, you know, I'm only human. And if we have that attitude, if we have that understanding, then, you know, we can do a lot of things, but then it's going to be because of our willpower. And if we don't accept this truth or embrace this truth, then we are missing out on a major aspect of transformation. So this is foundational. What has already been done? Okay, so what has already been done on the cross? It's a completed work of Christ on the cross. So He took our sin nature. As Romans 6, we read about it. This is called the old man or the body of sin. He put to death. So what are we talking about when it comes to these temperaments and negative attitudes? Well, that's in the realm of our soul, our mind. In the realm of our thinking, it could be a stronghold in the mind. It could be ingrained thought patterns and behavioral patterns which are still ingrained in the realm of our mind. So that is something that we need to deal with. But what was fueling that realm of the soul? What was fueling that internal engine which was actually giving power to those bad attitudes, giving power to those strongholds? Now, that Christ removed. That has been put to death. So what is fueling it right now? It's just our permission. It's just our exposure. Our exposing ourselves to the things of the flesh. Our unwillingness to renew our mind and thinking to the ways and the word of God. So now that internal engine has been destroyed. So let's look at Romans 6. Romans 6 and verse 6, we'll take a break after. Oh, we have time. So Romans 6 and verse 6. Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin. If that is not powerful, I don't know what this is. That our old man, this body of sin, was crucified with him. So it's something that was already done. That the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. So this is the intent. We go down to verse 14. For sin shall not have dominion over you. Meaning sin shall not have dominion. We look at it in terms of overall sin, but then we consider acts of sin. We hardly ever think about attitudes and motives. We look at outworking, lying, maybe cheating, maybe acts of violence, being unfaithful, maybe things like pornography, all those things. We consider that to come in this category. What has been put to that sin shall not have dominion over you is also in the realm of our attitudes, in the realm of overwhelming negative emotions, temperamentally, maybe thinking of being short tempered, acts of rage, violent behavior. All that cannot have, sin cannot have dominion over us. This is a powerful truth. And it's one of the things that really helps us to live a transformed life. So embracing this truth. So the thing is this, to come to the place of truth and say, Lord Jesus, like you took my physical symptoms on the cross, Lord, you took these things, these things that fuel this anger and this fear and this insecurity and the suspicion and all that God, I thank you that you took it on the cross. I thank you that your word declares that sin shall not have dominion, meaning upper arm or boss over or rule over me, does not have dominion, which means what righteousness has dominion over me. The rule of God has dominion over me. It's not the rule of sin, it's not the rule of Satan. So this is a powerful truth for a husband and a wife to consider and receive, husband to be, wife to be, to say that personally, this is it, so it shall not have dominion over me because it's been dealt with on the cross. The second one is my identity, the fact that I am a new creation. So this is also something that has already been done. Because of what has been done on the cross, sin shall not have dominion, because of what has been done on the cross, I am a new creation. I have received new creation life because of what has been done on the cross. So that's the second thing, my identity. I'm a new creation, 2 Corinthians 5 verse 17, I'm a new creation. The old has gone, the new has come. The old man is put to death. The old man has been given a complete, absolute funeral, fitting funeral. So there's no question of resurrecting the old man is dead. So that actually releases us, liberates us to live the new life. So not to slip back into the old life, but to live the new life. So our image changes. So we're no longer saying that poor me or self-pity or low self-esteem, we're looking at ourselves in the light of how Christ sees us. Why? Because we are one spirit within. The reason is we are washed by the blood of Jesus. We are covered by the blood of Jesus. And the fact is, spiritually, this is how we are. That we are justified. And we live a life of sanctification. We are justified by Him. And 2 Corinthians 5, and I think it's verse 23, which says, 21, I think, let's read that verse. It says that he who knew no sin has been made sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him. Verse 21, right? So this is the outcome that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ. So that should actually do wonders for ourselves in it. And we look at ourselves in the mirror when we look at, you know, consider ourselves not as someone who's a nobody, not as someone who's, you know, wretched, not as someone who's worthless, but as someone for whom Christ died, for someone whom through Christ has become a new creation. We are one spirit with Him. So we have been made a new creation so that He comes and indwells us. So we are not worthless. So He counted us worthy in order to die for us. He counted us of value so that He, you know, by this very act, He elevated us to that place of being seated with Him in the heavenly places, right? So our identity changes. So when our identity changes, the way we interact with others changes, right? So we are not offended easily when somebody, you know, is boastful or somebody tries to, you know, try to do something. We are not offended because we know our place. We know who we are. If somebody tries to, you know, say something, insult us or, you know, demean us, well, if we are strong in our identity, that really bounces off, right? We are not just pierced through in any way. We just think, oh, I know, you know, we begin to actually pity the other person. I'm sad that this person does not, you know, there's so much resentment in them. We begin to, you know, empathize. Maybe they've got some deep hurts because of which they are behaving that way, right? Because we turn the focus off ourselves because of our identity. Christ, we're so strong in that, rooted in that, okay? Okay, so that's the second one. We'll look at two more things and when we come back after the break, right? Thank you.