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Here are ten specific principles that I have made a priority in my life and service to God that will be helpful to you as you seek to follow the Lord: Principles: 1. Submission All of us are placed under some type of authority. Jesus demonstrated this principle in the way that He submitted His own life to the authority of His Father. In the same way, we must be people of submission, willing to yield our rights and honor our Master in heaven by obeying the authorities He has set over us. 2. Contentment Whether it be a love for money and material things, the seeking of praise and position or something else that pulls at us, we must be a people who are content with the life the Lord has appointed for us. 3. Forgiveness People will wrong us—even people who work with us in service to God—and when they do, we must be quick to demonstrate Christ’s love toward them through offering forgiveness. Oftentimes, God actually uses offenses to make us more like Christ. Refusing to forgive leads to bitterness, which will hurt us and, in the end, actually destroy our service to Him. 4. Faith Throughout our lives and ministries, we will face impossible situations. Putting unshakable confidence in the written Word of God and remaining steadfast in the faith developed through it anchors and enables us to see the impossible become possible. 5. Truthfulness People often misrepresent facts for the sake of gaining approval. But to serve God in the way that pleases Him and brings Him honor, we must maintain honesty and truthfulness in our communication and dealings with people, no matter who they are. 6. Faithfulness No matter how educated, able or experienced a person is, he will never succeed without the virtue of loyalty in his heart and life. Faithfulness means that through thick or thin, good times or bad, we remain true to God and true to one another at all costs. 7. Humility This must be our foundation in life and ministry. Pride will destroy our lives and ministries faster than anything else. Therefore, we must be careful how we live, making sure that it is in brokenness and humility. 8. Love We must regard the principle of love as supreme in our lives and service, understanding the meaning of love and living it out in our words, attitudes, responses and actions. 9. Courage and Boldness It takes courage and boldness on our part to stand up and live in the truth of His Word and follow Him. Sometimes we may have to stand alone and sometimes it may cost us in significant ways, but it is worth it and pleases God. 10. Unselfishness Our worst enemy in following and serving Christ is often our own self-centeredness. How often we are tempted to grab for our own lives and look out for only ourselves! But as followers of Christ, we are called to lay down our lives for Him and for one another. Dr. KP Yohannan, founder and director of the nonprofit organization Gospel for Asia, has written more than 200 books, including Revolution in World Missions, an international bestseller with more than 4 million copies in print. He and his wife, Gisela, have two grown children, Daniel and Sarah, who both serve the Lord with their families. Gospel for Asia is a nonprofit organization serving the “least of these” in Asia since its beginning in 1979, often in places where no one else is serving. Gospel for Asia supports national workers who are serving as the hands and feet of Christ by ministering to people’s needs so they can understand the love of God for them for the first time. Gospel for Asia is engaged in dozens of projects, such as caring for poor children, slum dwellers and widows and orphans; providing clean water by funding wells; supporting medical missions; and meeting the needs of those in leprosy colonies. Through Gospel for Asia’s Bridge of Hope Program, tens of thousands of children are being rescued from the generational curses of poverty and hopelessness. Read more posts on Patheos by Dr. KP Yohannan Metropolitan, or on his blog at kpyohannan.org. Learn more about Principles. Learn more about Dr. KP Yohannan Metropolitan: Facebook | Radio | Amazon | Sermon Index | Goodreads | Twitter | OnePlace | About | Integrity | Book

Criticism is a great danger in the Church in our day where many are even thinking they are doing God a favour by being critical against others. K.P. Yohannan shares ways we can overcome criticism that is directed towards us and understand why people do these things so we can have empathy and compassion for them. Currently we are featuring on SermonIndex.net a sermon on Bitterness by K.P. Yohannan which goes into detail of why believers end up acting in these ways. Only with God’s help through forgiveness can we be freed of this sin and start to live in a way where we bless and not condemn others. Read below what K.P. Yohannan says about Criticism: — In our world, it seems impossible to escape criticism. If we do poorly at school or at work, people will criticize us. Should we do well and excel in business, we still face criticism from people who are jealous of our success. It seems to be a favorite pastime of the human race to take one person after another, good or bad, and “skin them alive” with criticism. What makes people act this way? Psychologists say one of the underlying reasons people criticize each other is to take revenge for the hurts they once received. Whether deserved or not, criticism is always painful. No one likes it. Yet people seem to enjoy themselves when others are cut down. Most believers have accepted the fact that the world will criticize us regardless of how saintly we may live or how many charitable contributions we may make. However, I have found that the greatest shock and discouragement for believers come when they realize that they encounter this same heartless criticism from their brothers and sisters in the Body of Christ. Of course, God never meant this to happen. But many Christians have never allowed the Lord to cleanse their lives from this destructive behavior. It’s a very serious problem; and if it is not dealt with, it easily can destroy a church. Imagine this: Jesus, the sinless Son of God, faced His worst criticism—not from the Roman government or from ungodly people—but from the most recognized and pious religious leaders of His nation. Paul experienced the same thing. His worst critics were people inside the Church, not the heathen he tried to win. In fact, he deals very thoroughly with this problem in his second letter to the church in Corinth. Whether criticism comes from the world or from within the Church, it is important for us to know how we should respond to it. Here are a few ways to Overcome: 1. Not To Pay Back - The Bible clearly instructs us in Romans 12:17 not to pay back evil for evil, which means we must not lash out and respond in anger in the same manner we were treated. 2. Maintain Love - On the contrary, God wants us to respond differently. We are to maintain our love for the brothers and trust the Lord to handle our defence. Only if we do this will the cycle of destructive criticism be broken. 3. Say No to Discouragement - The feelings of deep hurt and discouragement that follow criticism can easily bring us to a point of despair, giving up our calling or even suicide. In no way must we allow this to happen! If we give in, the enemy has reached his goal of stopping us from building God’s kingdom. 4. Look Objectively - The best we can do when we receive criticism is to look at it objectively. If the accusations are simply empty talk, we should dismiss them and by God’s grace go on with our life. 5. Be Willing to Change - Lastly, On the other hand, if there is any truth in the criticism, let us be willing to change, improve and grow in that area.

“This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ‘Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.’ So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him” (Jeremiah 18:1-4). We see the picture of a Potter with the clay, working on it over and over again. He was able to re-shape the clay because it was soft. In our Christian lives our hearts can become hard and therefore God is not able to speak to us or help us change our ways. Let us listen to Bible teacher K.P. Yohannan as he gives us 3 reasons for our hearts becoming hard and 6 wonderful remedies for our heart to remain soft in our walks with God. — What Causes Our Hearts to Become Hard? 1. Being poisoned by negative talk. One person in a church or ministry is dissatisfied, bitter, critical and unwilling to change. He starts to talk negatively and poisons others. Soon the atmosphere of love among the brothers and sisters is replaced by disunity, anger and hardness of heart toward each other and the Lord. 2. An elevated view of ourselves. We feel important because we do something significant for God's Kingdom, and we don't recognize that our heart is filled with pride, arrogance and an exalted view of ourselves. Often the symptoms don't show up until years later when our heart is no longer soft in the Potter's hand. 3. Rebellion. Any form of rebellion is like a tiny seed that, if not dealt with, will grow and eventually harden our heart and bring destruction. It begins with a tiny issue or a thought like this one: “Who does he think he is to tell me what to do? My life is none of his business!”—and it ultimately ends in death. What Should We Do to Keep Our Hearts Soft? 1. Don't take God's grace for granted. Grace is given to those who are humble, not to those who are right or feel indispensable. 2. Watch over your heart (Proverbs 4:23). Don't keep company with those who spread negative talk, sow disunity or have a rebellious spirit. Love them and pray for them, but have no part with them. Believe me, you and I are not strong enough to withstand the poison they spread. It's in the atmosphere, and we breathe it in whether we intend to or not. 3. Submit to one another (Ephesians 5:21). Don't fight for your rights. Be willing to give up something. Learn to let it be. 4. Don't think of yourself more highly than you should (Romans 12:3). Remember that all the gifts, talents and ministry you have are given to you by the Lord. Nothing is of yourself. It's all God's grace. 5. Be careful from whom you receive your counsel. That's especially important when you are disappointed because your expectations are not met. Don't go to a brother or sister who is not mature in the Lord and who sympathizes and agrees with your complaints and tears. Instead, go to someone who is mature and who can help you see the hand of God and His purpose behind the things you face. 6. Repent and run to the cross. If need be, do this a thousand times a day to maintain the tenderness of your heart. Whenever you seek the limelight, want to take credit, get hurt or when your expectations are not fulfilled and your plans don't work out, don't fight; go to the cross. God always seeks to do one thing with us on the Potter's wheel—not to make us more powerful and famous, but to make us more like His Son, the Lord Jesus.