by Terry Wane Benton<\/p>\n
What mental and emotional baggage do we carry that weighs us down and makes our hearts heavy? Paul speaks of being persecuted, hard-pressed on every side, and perplexed, but these things were not what he “carried about” in his heart (II Corinthians 4:6-16). The way these negative things became bearable was because he was “always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus<\/em>” and by letting his mind carry Jesus death and the suffering that brought about Jesus’ death “the life of Jesus<\/em>” could become manifest in his body (II Corinthians 4:8-10).<\/p>\n Thus, Paul always considered being like Jesus in his handling of persecution and pressures of various sorts. He learned not to carry about the resentment and anger of being rejected and persecuted. He chose instead to use these things as an opportunity to gain some perspective on what Jesus suffered for him.<\/p>\n Jesus went through this and more for me. Instead of despairing and being crushed by how people treated him, he chose to think about the suffering Jesus went through to save him. By shifting from a “woe is me” pity party to a greater appreciation for what Jesus went through for us, he had to feel amazed that Jesus loved him so much.<\/p>\n From letting people make you feel worthless and unloved to letting it remind you of the love of Christ, it puts a greater perspective on letting the life of Christ prevail in us and through us.<\/p>\n Don’t carry about the wrong things. Carry about the way Jesus suffered and died for you. That should make you feel very special. Jesus is so much greater than anything or anyone who has hurt you. Jesus experienced all of that rejection and hurt, and was willing to go through it all because He loved you to His own rejection and death on the cross. Let that bring new life and perspective to your heart.<\/p>\n What are you carrying about?<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Terry Wane Benton What mental and emotional baggage do we carry that weighs us down and makes our hearts heavy? Paul speaks of being persecuted, hard-pressed on every side, and perplexed, but these things were not what he “carried about” in his heart (II Corinthians 4:6-16). The way these negative things became bearable was…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[397,1570],"class_list":["post-86554","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-depression","tag-examples"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":53607,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/take-up-your-cross\/","url_meta":{"origin":86554,"position":0},"title":"Take Up Your Cross","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 8, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Luke 14:25-32 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Many people see religion as something done out of convenience. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They attend when there isn\u2019t something important going on \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They select a church to attend because it is close, or because of the events going on, or if there are kids for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":18210,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-about-displaying-so-called-pictures-of-jesus\/","url_meta":{"origin":86554,"position":1},"title":"What about displaying so-called pictures of Jesus?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 23, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What about displaying so-called pictures of Jesus? Answer: First, we have no idea what the physical appearance of Jesus was. I am reminded of the old story of the small child in Bible class who drew a crude picture of an airplane, with three people in the back and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8710,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-know-which-church-is-the-one-the-lord-intended-and-what-about-the-eucharist-being-the-real-body-and-blood\/","url_meta":{"origin":86554,"position":2},"title":"How do I know which church is the one the Lord intended? And what about the Eucharist being the real body and blood?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 19, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I ran across your website and read the article on the Catholic church and the Bible. I am a lapsed Roman Catholic who has been searching for the Truth for some years now. I have four small children. How do I know the church of Christ is the church\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":92342,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-jesus-sacrificed\/","url_meta":{"origin":86554,"position":3},"title":"What Jesus Sacrificed","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 26, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer Jesus Sacrificed His Body The sacrifice of Jesus is vital to salvation (Ephesians\u00a0 1:7). Yet it was not just the death of Jesus that saves us; the resurrection was necessary to defeat death and thereby offer us the hope of eternal life (I Peter 1:3-5). To be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3719,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/where-did-jesus-carry-his-own-cross\/","url_meta":{"origin":86554,"position":4},"title":"Where did Jesus carry his own cross?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 17, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: For school, I'm learning about Easter. Where did Jesus carry his own cross? Answer: It is good to hear that your school is encouraging you to be interested in religious matters. I hope you learn a lot from your assignment. Many myths have grown up around Jesus. The gospels\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The City of Jerusalem","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/web.archive.org\/web\/20160313202144\/http%3A\/\/www.ccel.org\/bible\/phillips\/CNM08-Jerusalem.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/web.archive.org\/web\/20160313202144\/http%3A\/\/www.ccel.org\/bible\/phillips\/CNM08-Jerusalem.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/web.archive.org\/web\/20160313202144\/http%3A\/\/www.ccel.org\/bible\/phillips\/CNM08-Jerusalem.gif?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":17189,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-resurrection-of-jesus\/","url_meta":{"origin":86554,"position":5},"title":"The Resurrection of Jesus (Hamilton)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 31, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Acts 13:16-41 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Central to every Christian\u2019s belief in his salvation is the resurrection of Jesus - I Corinthians 15:12-19 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0If Jesus was not raised, . . . \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Then every preacher has been teaching falsehoods \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Our faith in the Bible would be useless \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a03.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Our hope\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86554","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86554"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86554\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86554"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}