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Key Bible Verse: If we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong (1 John 1:9). Bonus Reading:Ephesians 4:32

A short time ago I became a little impatient about the fact that whenever I wanted to cut anything, our knives were dull. So I decided to buy several knives that never have to be sharpened. I brought them home, and Vonette said, "Take them back. We don't need them.'"

"But all our knives are dull," I protested. Pretty soon we were in conflict. But then we both realized how foolish we were, we both confessed that we were expressing our own selfish desires, and we each asked the other to forgive. So she gave me the knives for Christmas, and I gave her a knife sharpener. And we lived happily ever after.

There've been plenty of times when I've not been the perfect husband nor she the perfect wife. But we know the concept [of today's Key Bible Verse].

Every time you're angry with your wife, or impatient, or unkind, simply thank God that He has forgiven your sins—past, present, and future—on the basis of Christ's death on the cross. Claim his love and forgiveness by faith. Then ask the Holy Spirit to cleanse you of that attitude, and continue to have fellowship with Christ.

—Bill Bright in A Life of Integrity

My Response: When was the last time I asked my wife for her forgiveness?

Thought to Apply: He who forgives ends the quarrel.
—African proverb

Adapted from: Stand Firm (2/01) by permission.

Copyright © 2002 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.
Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity.

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Prayer for the Week

Dear Father, thank You for revealing Yourself to me. Now help me to constructively express myself to those I love.

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