Kathy Gallagher uses her own testimony and her experience ministering to wives, to teach us what true forgiveness is, and what it is not.
"Should I forgive my cheating husband?" This is a very common question in today's age. Some wives are asking this because years of broken promises have caused them to become weary. Some ask this because they just found out that their husband has been unfaithful. And for others, they cannot imagine enduring for one more the day the crushing weight of the pain. Sometimes forgiveness seems unrealistic--even unjust. The wife feels like she is just giving him a license to continue being unfaithful. When Kathy Gallagher found out that her husband had been unfaithful to her, she had a decision to make. She could make him pay for it, or she could forgive. But she yielded to God's heart of forgiveness, and since then, she has been able to guide many devastated women into the wonderful freedom that comes through forgiveness. In this video, Kathy looks at what true forgiveness is, and what it is not.
Many women believe forgiveness is unrealistic and unfair. But Kathy learned that with it comes wonderful freedom and blessing from God.
"Should I forgive my cheating husband?" Many hurting wives ask this question because they have already endured years of broken promises and resolutions, only to find out that they have been lied to once again. Some ask this question because they have been blindsided by a revelation of betrayal. Others ask this because they cannot imagine enduring the flood of emotions and pain that threatens to drown them at any moment. Not only this, but for so many women, forgiveness seems unrealistic and even unfair. To forgive a cheating husband seems as if the wife is just letting him off the hook or giving him a license to continue being unfaithful. Kathy Gallagher faced these questions in her own married life when her husband was unfaithful to her. But she found out what true forgiveness is, and she has been able to guide many devastated women into the wonderful freedom that comes through forgiveness. In this video, Kathy looks at what true forgiveness is, and what it is not.
The Bible offers us guiding principles to help us discern how to think about actions and attitudes that it does not explicitly deal with.
Is masturbation sin? This question has sparked many heated debates. Since the Bible doesn’t answer the question directly, many people assume that God must be fine with it. But the Bible does offer guiding principles that help us to discern how to think about actions or attitudes that are not explicitly dealt with in its holy pages.In this episode of Ask the Counselor, Pastor Ed Buch looks at some of the underlying beliefs and perspectives that fuel the practice of masturbation, and admonishes us to consider again what God must really think about masturbation.
Putting on a religious show and even believing oneself to be good are actually common issues among Christians living in habitual sexual sin.
Being a sexual addict and being a self-righteous Pharisee might not seem very similar on the surface. But often, these two spiritual problems overlap. Pastor Steve Gallagher explores the spiritual dynamics of why this happens, and pastor and evangelist Glenn Meldrum explains the antidote to powerless religiosity: a life that's truly "set apart" to God.
There are clear indicators that can show a wife if her husband is changing or just going through the same cycle he's been in for years.
When a husband is in the grip of sexual addiction, the wife is often desperately searching for any sign that he is truly going to change. Soon it becomes apparent that tears of remorse, pleas for mercy and many promises to change do not guarantee that the husband is serious about changing. Kathy’s husband was addicted to pornography and illicit sexual encounters for years, but there was a moment in time where Steve truly began to change, and there were indicators in the following months that the change was genuine. In this video, Kathy talks about how a wife can know if her husband is truly changing.
To leave the past behind a wife must find peace and hope in God. Then she will have strength to endure and even blessings amidst the pain.
A wife who is crippled by fear is often looking to her husband for something that only God can provide. Kathy has seen it many, many times: when a wife pins her happiness on how well her husband is doing, she will be disappointed again and again.In order to leave the past behind, a wife must find her peace and hope in God. This is where she will find the strength to endure, and even to find the blessing in the pain.Kathy was able to endure the pain of Steve’s repeated betrayals only by looking to God as her source of strength and recognizing the work that God was doing in her own life through this fiery trial.
The promises of Scripture and testimonies of generations of saints prove that Jesus can free us from oppressive and lustful thoughts.
Is it possible to experience longstanding victory over lustful thoughts? For many, the answer to this question has been a resounding “no.” Years and sometimes even decades of constant failure have taught us to believe that the holiness described in the Bible is reserved for so-called “spiritual giants.” We often imagine ourselves experiencing victory after reciting a prayer, memorizing scripture, or attending a special church service. While these are not sinful behaviors, the Bible clearly teaches it takes more to experience long-lasting victory. The Bible does not guarantee sinless perfection, but it does shed some light on this crucial issue and can lead us in our journey to experience the holiness of God in our own lives. Besides the promises of scripture, there are countless testimonies from other believers that Jesus can and will free us from our oppressive, lustful minds if we are willing to follow His commands. In this episode of Ask the Counselor, Biblical Counselor Luke Imperato shares both spiritual and practical insights on fighting against lust and recounts some of his own powerful testimony about how God led him out of overwhelming and filthy thinking.
Learning to put her trust in the Lord and His Word will give a hurting wife the rock she needs to endure the onslaught of painful emotions.
When caught up in the storm of revealed sexual sin, a hurting wife has tremendous difficulty facing the onslaught of emotions as they rush upon her. Oftentimes, her feelings send her into emergency mode as she attempts to save her marriage at any cost. Kathy herself lived through this struggle as a young bride when she first married Steve Gallagher. When his sin came out, she was overcome with fear, doubt and anger. However, as time went on, the Lord taught her to put her trust in Him and His Word, which provides hope that does not disappoint. She has since counseled hundreds of wives, helping them to deal with their husband's sin in a godly and biblical way. In this video, she encourages wives to stand their ground amidst the unrelenting surge of these powerful emotions.
Inward submission to God is just as important as outward obedience. A lack of surrender inside will cause rebellion to grow in our hearts.
We often judge our spiritual lives by looking only at the outward manifestations of sin. But the attitude of our hearts can separate us from the Lord and His work in our lives just as much as any outward sin. In this message, Pastor Steve looks at the rebellion that can grow in our hearts towards God if we fail to fully surrender our inward lives to Him.
When we repent of our wrongful thinking, God will begin using His Word to realign our thoughts and give us a pure mind in Christ.
The will of God for us is holiness in thought as well as deed, which comes through a process called sanctification. This sanctification comes by the transforming power of God’s Word and the influence of His Holy spirit. However, before this process can begin, we must repent of our minds which are at enmity with God and have often portrayed a perverted view of Him. In this message, Ed Buch clearly teaches how God uses His Word to realign our minds so that we can have the mind of Christ and present our lives as a worship offering, pleasing unto Him.
Seeking God must become a priority in our lives because Scripture teaches that we will find Him if we search for Him with our whole hearts.
The living God longs to reveal his mercy to us. But as Nate Danser challenges us in this message, if we want to discover who God really is, we will have to take a serious look at our priorities. Are we overwhelmed by the Lord's love and compelled to respond by giving him our lives? If not, now is the time to seek the Lord!
One day we all will stand before the judgement seat of God and the question presented to us shall be, "Are you standing in The Truth?"
Even the spirit of this world can sense the destructive path mankind is on and that it cannot continue this way forever, that there must come an end to the horrors we see growing every day. Yet, it is deluded as to the true nature of the problem, that 6000 years ago we declared war against a Holy God. The world is trying to evade the inevitable end to this battle by seeking solutions to save itself apart from the gospel God has laid before us. But the end will come for the Children of Adam, and when it does, it will catch many by surprise. Then, we will all be brought before the judgment seat of God and the question presented to us shall be: Are we standing in The Truth?
This is the final episode of our special series, World of Lies, based on the latest book by Steve Gallagher: Walking in Truth in a World of Lies. We would encourage you to get a copy and immerse yourself in its biblically based truth. Just visit aworldoflies.com to find out more information. Purity for Life is a production of Pure Life Ministries. You can find all of our teaching materials, by visiting purelifeministries.org. You can also find out about our residential and phone-counseling programs if you or someone you care about is trapped in the deception of sexual sin.