100:00:00,880 –> 00:00:08,520Hell is a place of torment and the irony of discontent is that the200:00:08,520 –> 00:00:16,139discontented person becomes his or her own tormentor. When discontent gets a300:00:16,139 –> 00:00:21,160grip in your life it really does bring a taste of hell400:00:21,160 –> 00:00:22,660right here right now to you.500:00:23,559 –> 00:00:27,020Welcome to Open the Bible With Pastor Colin Smith600:00:27,500 –> 00:00:29,719I’m David Pick glad you could join us today700:00:29,860 –> 00:00:33,480and Colin, most of us I think understand that hell would800:00:33,480 –> 00:00:38,820be a place of torment, but I don’t think we would usually equate discontent with that.900:00:39,419 –> 00:00:43,700Well for sure that’s got to be part of the experience there and of1000:00:43,700 –> 00:00:46,080course the reason that we’re looking at that is that we want to go in the1100:00:46,080 –> 00:00:51,060opposite direction what we want to go after is contentment, this great grace1200:00:51,060 –> 00:00:56,340that the Bible commends to us and where we’re starting is at the beginning of1300:00:56,419 –> 00:01:00,820this journey in which we’re trying to get from anger to peace, from frustration1400:01:00,820 –> 00:01:05,419to satisfaction and from anxiety to trust. That’s the heart of what1500:01:05,419 –> 00:01:11,820contentment is and we’re beginning by naming discontent for what it is, it is a1600:01:11,820 –> 00:01:16,000hellish sin. Got to deal with that whenever it rears its ugly head in my1700:01:16,000 –> 00:01:19,220life in order to get on the path to contentment.1800:01:19,220 –> 00:01:24,580So join us if you can in Exodus 17, as we continue the message the Hellish Sin of1900:01:24,580 –> 00:01:29,620Discontent. Here is pastor Colin. In the Old Testament as you know well we have2000:01:29,620 –> 00:01:35,239the story of Job, but good and a godly man a man wonderfully blessed by God2100:01:35,239 –> 00:01:40,699his family was blessed his business was blessed Job was living the dream as we2200:01:40,699 –> 00:01:46,660would say until one day through a series of disasters this good and godly man2300:01:47,040 –> 00:01:54,559everything and Job said you remember these famous words the Lord gave the2400:01:54,559 –> 00:02:00,639Lord has taken away blessed be the name of the Lord now that’s what a godly2500:02:00,639 –> 00:02:07,139person says. An ungodly person a discontented person says something2600:02:07,139 –> 00:02:11,539different. you see the discontented person says the Lord gave and he should2700:02:11,539 –> 00:02:19,600have given more the Lord has taken away and he should not have done that which2800:02:19,600 –> 00:02:24,860is why Jude speaks about the harsh things that ungodly sinners speak2900:02:24,860 –> 00:02:31,880against God see discontent is a hellish sin because at its heart it is a3000:02:31,880 –> 00:02:36,320rebellion against God any person who believes in a sovereign God and then its3100:02:36,320 –> 00:02:40,119discontent is guilty of rebellion because God is sovereign3200:02:40,559 –> 00:02:49,520over all of my life Paul pictures it this way in the book of Romans he said3300:02:49,520 –> 00:02:58,860imagine a piece of clay saying to the potter whose hands mold it why are you3400:02:58,860 –> 00:03:05,380making me like this why have you made me like this have you ever said that to3500:03:05,380 –> 00:03:11,139God God you should have done something different and remember how the Apostle3600:03:11,139 –> 00:03:19,279Paul answers that he says who are you or man to talk back to God he’s God but you3700:03:19,279 –> 00:03:25,080see all this content at its heart is an expression of horrible rebellion against3800:03:25,080 –> 00:03:30,020God it’s a manifestation of pride it’s an expression of rebellion it is thirdly3900:03:30,960 –> 00:03:38,759of unbelief and this is why we read from Exodus and chapter 17 this morning it4000:03:38,759 –> 00:03:44,160tells the story of how God’s people had been greatly blessed they had been4100:03:44,160 –> 00:03:48,360brought out of slavery in Egypt they had crossed the Red Sea without getting4200:03:48,360 –> 00:03:53,960their feet wet God had given them manner to feed them in the wilderness and here’s4300:03:53,960 –> 00:03:58,899something fascinating why is it that those who are most4400:03:58,899 –> 00:04:06,479evidently blessed are often most discontent4500:04:06,479 –> 00:04:11,820now my this was an overwhelming impression made upon me the very first4600:04:11,820 –> 00:04:18,140time I came to India meeting brothers and sisters who have so much less than I4700:04:18,140 –> 00:04:25,420have in my life so much less than the vast majority of us have and seeing that4800:04:25,420 –> 00:04:30,119there was a far greater general level of contentment among Christian4900:04:30,119 –> 00:04:38,660believers than typically is experienced here. why is that? that so often those5000:04:38,660 –> 00:04:44,660who are blessed the most are content the least. why would that be? and the answer5100:04:44,660 –> 00:04:49,799of course is that contentment has nothing whatsoever to do with what you5200:04:49,859 –> 00:04:57,000have or what you do not have in life. contentment is a condition of heart. that5300:04:57,000 –> 00:05:02,559is why adding to what you have cannot bring contentment. it just doesn’t work. it5400:05:02,559 –> 00:05:06,480doesn’t happen. the world always says to us, if you can bring what you have up to5500:05:06,480 –> 00:05:09,980what you want, then you will be content. it never happens. what you want just5600:05:09,980 –> 00:05:18,640moves. contentment is a condition of heart. now at one point, God’s people who5700:05:18,640 –> 00:05:23,279had been so greatly blessed, they come to a place where they had no water. now5800:05:23,279 –> 00:05:28,540that is a legitimate concern and there obviously are times in life where we may5900:05:28,540 –> 00:05:35,679have a legitimate concern as to how God will supply what we need. but what6000:05:35,679 –> 00:05:43,019happened was that their legitimate concern metastasized into unbelief.6100:05:43,019 –> 00:05:51,820verse seven of Exodus 17, they tested the Lord by saying is the Lord among us or6200:05:51,820 –> 00:06:00,739not? now here are redeemed people, God’s people brought through the Red Sea, and6300:06:00,739 –> 00:06:05,700within a very short space of time, they have lost confidence that God is with6400:06:05,700 –> 00:06:12,420them. if you no longer believe that God is with you, you will no longer be6500:06:12,500 –> 00:06:17,179confident that he will supply what you need, and it will not be long there, for6600:06:17,179 –> 00:06:21,059before the grumbling at the complaining begins, and you will find yourself6700:06:21,059 –> 00:06:24,799sliding into the hellish sin of discontent, because it is the fruit of6800:06:24,799 –> 00:06:30,779unbelief. it arises from a loss of confidence that God is actually with you,6900:06:30,779 –> 00:06:34,880that he cares for, you and that he will, as we’re going to see later in the7000:06:34,880 –> 00:06:42,019series, wonderfully supply all that you need, so discontent, it really is a7100:06:42,019 –> 00:06:48,299hellish sin, why? because it leads to hell. it’s the defining characteristic of the7200:06:48,299 –> 00:06:55,679ungodly, always discontent. it comes from hell, it is a manifestation of horrible7300:06:55,679 –> 00:07:02,839pride, rebellion against God and a unbelief, lack of trust in him, and then7400:07:02,839 –> 00:07:09,640thirdly, discontent can rightly be described as a hellish sin, because it7500:07:09,640 –> 00:07:18,260brings a taste of hell into your own experience right now, hell is a place of7600:07:18,260 –> 00:07:25,019torment and the irony of discontent, is that the discontented person becomes his7700:07:25,519 –> 00:07:34,160or her own tormentor, when discontent gets a grip in your life, it really does bring7800:07:34,160 –> 00:07:42,399a taste of hell, right here, right now to you and for that reason it is a very7900:07:42,399 –> 00:07:48,540very costly thing. Jeremiah Burroughs one of the things that he says about the8000:07:48,820 –> 00:07:54,399cost of discontent, and it was very striking to me. He says8100:07:54,399 –> 00:08:04,359by murmuring and discontent in your hearts you come to lose a great deal of8200:08:04,359 –> 00:08:15,519time, a great deal of time, and that has been very striking to me, how much time8300:08:15,559 –> 00:08:27,779is wasted over brooding over what might have been. If I had done this, if I had8400:08:27,779 –> 00:08:35,219pursued that, if I had taken this other fork in the road, if only I had not made8500:08:35,219 –> 00:08:42,299that foolish mistake. And then your time and your energy are can increasingly8600:08:42,299 –> 00:08:52,039sucked into a different life what might have been. Friends, do not waste the time8700:08:52,039 –> 00:08:57,140that you have by dreaming of a life that you have not been given. It is a waste.8800:08:57,140 –> 00:09:01,440God is calling you to live the life you have been given. The life that you have.8900:09:01,440 –> 00:09:06,460The life that you have now. The situation that you’re in now. And to do it for his9000:09:06,640 –> 00:09:13,539glory. Secondly, it brings this awful cost, this9100:09:13,539 –> 00:09:20,460hellish sin of discontent. Not only do you waste time, you waste your life with it, it9200:09:20,460 –> 00:09:25,359costs you your discernment. You lose discernment.9300:09:25,359 –> 00:09:30,580Now this is especially clear in the story recorded in Numbers 16, where we read about9400:09:30,580 –> 00:09:35,340God’s people grumbling in the desert. And they begin complaining. It is one of these9500:09:35,340 –> 00:09:40,900scenes that occurs in the Old Testament story. And what is so fascinating and I want you9600:09:40,900 –> 00:09:49,760to see this is that as they complain, they lose touch with reality.9700:09:49,760 –> 00:09:58,619Now, just remember this. If you are in the company of someone who often complains, say9800:09:59,299 –> 00:10:08,960yourself, this person often complains, I must therefore remember not to trust his or her9900:10:08,960 –> 00:10:18,659discernment. Because complaining directly costs discernment when it becomes habitual.10000:10:18,659 –> 00:10:23,840I’ll show you that here in numbers chapter 16 and verse 3. It’s so clear. Here are God’s10100:10:24,780 –> 00:10:29,719again they’re complaining to Moses, numbers chapter 16, and they say this. How’s this10200:10:29,719 –> 00:10:38,119for losing touch with reality? You have brought us up out off a land flowing with milk and10300:10:38,119 –> 00:10:44,679honey. Not you’re taking us to a land of milk and honey, Egypt is now apparently a land10400:10:44,679 –> 00:10:48,359that was flowing with milk and honey. They’d forgot all about the breaks being made without10500:10:48,359 –> 00:10:53,039straw, and apparently their memory has got so clouded, they’re so distorted by their10600:10:53,039 –> 00:10:58,320own complaining that their memory of Egypt is transformed from the reality of what it10700:10:58,320 –> 00:11:02,200actually was. And then they say something else. You’ve brought us out of a land flowing10800:11:02,200 –> 00:11:09,619with milk and honey to kill us in the wilderness that you must also make yourself a Prince10900:11:09,619 –> 00:11:14,260to be over us. So you see what they’re saying to Moses, you’re just wanting to make yourself11000:11:14,500 –> 00:11:20,479a Prince. Wait a minute, where was Moses brought up? He was brought up in a palace. And what11100:11:22,380 –> 00:11:26,619did he do for the sake of the people of God? He gave up being a Prince. He gave up the11200:11:26,619 –> 00:11:31,119palace in order to take his stand for the very persecuted people of God, but you see11300:11:31,119 –> 00:11:36,219these folks have got into the habit of complaining to such a degree that they have lost their11400:11:36,219 –> 00:11:42,659own discernment. That is what it does to you. You become a malcontent, you can no longer11500:11:42,739 –> 00:11:49,739tell truth from lies. You can no longer discern good from bad, better from worse. It costs11600:11:50,659 –> 00:11:57,020you. Here is what discontent does. Discontent leads you to an exaggeration of the blessings11700:11:57,020 –> 00:12:04,020of yesterday, and to losing sight of the blessings and the opportunities of today. That is what11800:12:04,739 –> 00:12:09,659discontent does. And it is a hellish sin.11900:12:09,659 –> 00:12:12,859My name is Pastor Colin Smith, and a message called the hellish sin of12000:12:12,859 –> 00:12:18,320discontent, and we’ll continue with a message very shortly, so please stay with us.12100:12:18,320 –> 00:12:22,799The message was one of the most popular and downloaded messages of the past year and we’ve12200:12:22,799 –> 00:12:27,299included it with all of the others in the top ten most listened to messages under the12300:12:27,299 –> 00:12:32,840title Listener Favourites 2026. and you can find the whole collection after they’ve12400:12:32,840 –> 00:12:37,979been broadcast on our website, that’s at openthebible.org.uk12500:12:37,979 –> 00:12:42,039And also on all the podcast sites by searching for openthebible.uk.12600:12:42,039 –> 00:12:45,719Back to the message now, here again is Pastor Colin.12700:12:45,719 –> 00:12:53,500Here’s the strange irony of this thing, that you lose the joy of what you have because12800:12:53,500 –> 00:12:59,299you cannot get what you want – I mean why lose the joy of what God has given you because12900:12:59,299 –> 00:13:03,039you become increasingly obsessed with what he has not given you?13000:13:03,039 –> 00:13:07,380It will cost you your joy.13100:13:07,380 –> 00:13:12,039And it may add to your sorrows – that’s the fourth way in which it is really costly13200:13:12,039 –> 00:13:18,159and there are many examples of this in the Bible, but the one that is most striking to13300:13:18,159 –> 00:13:26,679me, and it’s a very tender story and I’ve thought long about it, is the story of Rachel13400:13:26,679 –> 00:13:29,919who was married to Jacob.13500:13:29,919 –> 00:13:33,299She saw her sister Leah, you remember this story?13600:13:33,320 –> 00:13:40,580having children, and as the years passed it got to her, Rachel wanted children and she13700:13:40,580 –> 00:13:41,580had none.13800:13:41,580 –> 00:13:47,780And what a tender and what a sensitive issue.13900:13:47,780 –> 00:13:52,020And you may like to identify that issue or you may like to broad it out to some other14000:13:52,020 –> 00:14:00,619issue but you find yourself saying, here is something that I really want in my life and14100:14:00,780 –> 00:14:05,039God has not given it to me.14200:14:05,039 –> 00:14:09,659And for some that may be the gift of children or the gift of grandchildren or of marriage14300:14:09,659 –> 00:14:15,219or of some particular ministry or of some particular position or a dream, of something14400:14:15,219 –> 00:14:20,500that you looked for and it has not come to pass.14500:14:20,500 –> 00:14:22,580Well Rachel was in that position.14600:14:22,580 –> 00:14:24,780She was not happy.14700:14:24,820 –> 00:14:31,460She was not content with what God had given to her in her life and your heart goes out14800:14:31,460 –> 00:14:32,460to her.14900:14:32,460 –> 00:14:35,799You sympathise with her.15000:14:35,799 –> 00:14:45,099But Scripture records that when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she envied15100:14:45,099 –> 00:14:56,859her sister and she said to Jacob, give me children or I die.15200:14:56,859 –> 00:15:00,020Extraordinary words.15300:15:00,020 –> 00:15:06,419Give me children or I die.15400:15:06,419 –> 00:15:16,000If I don’t have this, my life isn’t worth living, I have to have it.15500:15:16,000 –> 00:15:21,039I have to have it.15600:15:21,039 –> 00:15:31,580And that discontent cost Rachel her life because she had a child and she died in childbirth.15700:15:32,200 –> 00:15:37,159Now, let me be clear, Rachel is a dearly loved child of God.15800:15:37,159 –> 00:15:40,299All who are in Christ will see her in heaven.15900:15:40,299 –> 00:15:46,820God is the great Redeemer, and the first child born to Rachel, of course, was Joseph, and16000:15:46,820 –> 00:15:51,919the child born that cost her her life was Benjamin.16100:15:51,919 –> 00:15:56,919And we know from that story how God’s great, great purpose of grace was wonderfully advanced16200:15:56,919 –> 00:15:58,320through them.16300:15:59,159 –> 00:16:07,679We must not miss from this story that it is possible to want something that God has not16400:16:07,679 –> 00:16:15,960given so much that you bring sorrow into your life that you would not have had otherwise.16500:16:15,960 –> 00:16:21,679What if getting what you want should prove to be the heaviest burden and the greatest16600:16:21,679 –> 00:16:24,979cross of your life?16700:16:24,979 –> 00:16:30,880The Scripture says God withholds no good thing from those who walk uprightly.16800:16:30,880 –> 00:16:37,520In other words everything that will wonderfully nourish and advance His purpose in your life,16900:16:37,520 –> 00:16:42,760the good and the bad His Sovereign Hand brings, He will withhold no good thing.17000:16:42,760 –> 00:16:52,260What if God’s withholding is actually part of His kindness towards you?17100:16:52,260 –> 00:16:59,440It is possible friends to want something that God has not given to much and there is17200:16:59,440 –> 00:17:04,000all the difference in the world between humbly coming before God and saying from the heart17300:17:04,000 –> 00:17:07,400Lord give me children.17400:17:07,400 –> 00:17:12,160But whatever happens I will love you and I will live for your glory.17500:17:12,160 –> 00:17:18,680There’s a big difference between that and the spirit of Rachel that says give me17600:17:18,739 –> 00:17:21,199children or my life isn’t worth living.17700:17:21,199 –> 00:17:25,420Give me children or I die.17800:17:25,420 –> 00:17:27,839That’s idolatry isn’t it?17900:17:27,839 –> 00:17:30,560That’s idolatry.18000:17:30,560 –> 00:17:34,920So remember the principle of the manna.18100:17:34,920 –> 00:17:45,780When you gather what God gives it is a blessing to you but when you try to grasp more it goes18200:17:45,780 –> 00:17:47,680bad on you.18300:17:47,699 –> 00:17:50,900That’s the principle of the manna.18400:17:50,900 –> 00:17:55,979Discontent is a hellish sin first because it leads to hell, that we learn from Jude,18500:17:55,979 –> 00:17:57,939second because it comes from hell.18600:17:57,939 –> 00:18:01,400It is characterized by the things that are at the very heart of hell.18700:18:01,400 –> 00:18:04,300Pride and rebellion and unbelief itself.18800:18:04,300 –> 00:18:08,699Discontent is a hellish thing because it brings into your life right now, if you allow it18900:18:08,699 –> 00:18:16,040to take root, a taste of hell in which you become your own tormentor.19000:18:16,040 –> 00:18:20,920So I hope that all of us are now ready to deal with discontent.19100:18:20,920 –> 00:18:25,579I hope that every person in this first service today is at the place of saying, I didn’t19200:18:25,579 –> 00:18:30,680think too much about this before but now I see that I need to deal with this hellish19300:18:30,680 –> 00:18:34,319sin wherever it rears its ugly head in my life.19400:18:34,319 –> 00:18:38,619I need to get beyond thinking that mourning and complaining does not matter.19500:18:38,619 –> 00:18:47,160But I need to get serious about moving from anger to peace, and from frustration to satisfaction.19600:18:47,160 –> 00:18:51,599And from anxiety to trust.19700:18:51,599 –> 00:19:02,060Friend thank God today, don’t you thank God with me today, that there is a Saviour for19800:19:02,060 –> 00:19:05,319this hellish sin.19900:19:05,319 –> 00:19:13,280A Saviour to whom we can come with all of our discontent today, a Saviour we can ask20000:19:13,280 –> 00:19:19,000to forgive this hellish sin, whenever we see it in our own lives.20100:19:19,000 –> 00:19:24,880A Saviour we can ask to cleanse us, to wash this out of the very fabric of my life, Oh20200:19:24,880 –> 00:19:28,660God do that in our hearts today.20300:19:28,660 –> 00:19:32,920A Saviour to whom we can come and say you came to deliver me from every sin that leads20400:19:32,920 –> 00:19:35,000to hell, I want you to deliver me from this.20500:19:35,180 –> 00:19:41,180But I want you to bring me into a place of growing contentment and do it oh Lord in increasing20600:19:41,180 –> 00:19:44,439measure even this month.20700:19:44,439 –> 00:19:51,079And as you set as it were your sail for this journey, from anger to peace, from frustration20800:19:51,079 –> 00:19:57,859to satisfaction, from anxiety to trust you will find that peace in life comes from knowing20900:19:57,859 –> 00:20:02,839that everything that concerns you really is in the hands of a Saviour who loves you.21000:20:03,660 –> 00:20:08,680That satisfaction lies in knowing that in Jesus Christ you really do have all that you21100:20:08,680 –> 00:20:10,439need.21200:20:10,439 –> 00:20:14,560And trust begins when you know and see again that He really is faithful and those who look21300:20:14,560 –> 00:20:19,119to Him are never, never, never put to shame.21400:20:19,979 –> 00:20:25,599I end with a quote from one of my heroes of the faith in this last generation, Allan Redpath.21500:20:25,599 –> 00:20:32,319I know his ministry at Moody meant much to many who still remember him from these years21600:20:32,319 –> 00:20:39,119and Allan Redpath went through some extraordinarily difficult times in his life, especially when21700:20:39,119 –> 00:20:44,000after returning from Moody he came to my home church in Edinburgh, Scotland Charlotte Chapel21800:20:44,000 –> 00:20:48,459and then he had a stroke, was laid on his back for a prolonged period of time and made21900:20:48,459 –> 00:20:52,180a very slow and gradual recovery.22000:20:52,180 –> 00:20:57,939And Allan Redpath wrote these words, and at a time that was most difficult in my life22100:20:58,640 –> 00:21:06,060I wrote them out, stuck them in my Bible and probably read them every few days in the Flyleaf.22200:21:06,060 –> 00:21:16,020There is nothing, Redpath said, no circumstance, no trouble, no testing that can ever touch22300:21:16,020 –> 00:21:23,319me until first of all it has gone past God, past Christ and through to me.22400:21:24,260 –> 00:21:31,060If it has come that far, it has come with a great purpose, which I may not understand22500:21:31,060 –> 00:21:32,060at the moment.22600:21:32,060 –> 00:21:42,239I may not know what this great purpose is, but I just love this, I refused to panic and22700:21:42,239 –> 00:21:47,140as I lift my eyes to him, no circumstance will cause me to fret.22800:21:47,140 –> 00:21:56,680Therefore I shall rest in the joy of what my Lord is and that is the rest of Victory.22900:21:56,680 –> 00:22:02,839You’ve been listening to Pastor Colin Smith on Open The Bible, with a message called the23000:22:02,839 –> 00:22:04,979Hell-ish sin of discontent.23100:22:04,979 –> 00:22:09,920This message is one of the most popular and downloaded messages of the past 12 months23200:22:09,920 –> 00:22:14,260and we’ve bundled it together with all the other most popular messages in a series we’ve23300:22:14,260 –> 00:22:16,660called listener favorites 2026.23400:22:17,479 –> 00:22:21,099If you’ve missed any of the series or if you want to go back and listen again, they’re23500:22:21,099 –> 00:22:28,540all available on our website at openthebible.org.uk, also in your favorite podcast site, go there23600:22:28,540 –> 00:22:34,020and search for Open The Bible UK or follow the link from our website.23700:22:34,020 –> 00:22:38,859At Open The Bible, we welcome contact with our listeners, if you’ve been blessed by Pastor23800:22:38,859 –> 00:22:43,339Colin Smith’s teaching and you’d like to reach out to us, there are several ways you can23900:22:43,339 –> 00:22:44,339do that.24000:22:44,439 –> 00:22:54,280You can write to us at Open The Bible, P.O. Box 1420, Cheltenham, GL 50, 9pg, or you can24100:22:54,280 –> 00:23:01,739phone us on 0330 335 8089.24200:23:01,739 –> 00:23:07,300If we’re not available when you call, leave a message for us and we’ll return your call.24300:23:07,339 –> 00:23:14,359All of these contact details are available on our website www.openthebible.org.uk24400:23:14,359 –> 00:23:20,060Well as regular listeners will know, Open The Bible is supported by our listeners financially.24500:23:20,060 –> 00:23:24,760If that’s something you already do then thank you so much for your support.24600:23:24,760 –> 00:23:29,079If you’re considering beginning to support Open the Bible in the future, this month24700:23:29,079 –> 00:23:32,680we’d love to say thank-you by sending you a copy of24800:23:32,680 –> 00:23:37,400Colin’s brand new 30-day devotional book Grow In Love.24900:23:37,400 –> 00:23:41,000Colin what’s one thing you would like people to take away from this Book?25000:23:41,000 –> 00:23:44,780Well I think that most of us feel that we need to grow in love, especially when25100:23:44,780 –> 00:23:47,579it comes to loving those with whom we deeply disagree.25200:23:47,579 –> 00:23:51,260But here’s the question, do you think it’s possible for you to25300:23:51,260 –> 00:23:54,859become a more loving person than you are right now?25400:23:54,859 –> 00:23:59,000See the thing is if it simply depended on what you can generate25500:23:59,000 –> 00:24:02,219from within yourself, the answer would have to be no.25600:24:02,219 –> 00:24:07,500Our love would depend on our experience and if we hadn’t been well loved by others,25700:24:07,500 –> 00:24:11,040well we wouldn’t be able to give love to others!25800:24:11,040 –> 00:24:16,619But the good news is that love really can be learned.25900:24:16,619 –> 00:24:21,520It’s possible to grow in love, and God’s Holy Spirit is given26000:24:21,520 –> 00:24:24,160to every Christian believer for this purpose.26100:24:24,160 –> 00:24:28,400So the thing I’d want people to take away from this is the wonderful hope26200:24:28,800 –> 00:24:35,400as you experience the love of God poured into your own heart by the power of the Holy Spirit26300:24:35,400 –> 00:24:40,020so you will be better able to love others really well.26400:24:40,020 –> 00:24:43,939Well we’d love to send you a copy of Pastor Colin’s book, Grow in Love,26500:24:43,939 –> 00:24:47,640when you’ve set up a new direct debit to the work of Open the Bible26600:24:47,640 –> 00:24:54,040in the amount of £5 per month or more, or a one-off gift of £60 or more this month.26700:24:54,219 –> 00:24:58,180Full terms and conditions and to give online come to our website26800:24:58,180 –> 00:25:01,140openthebible.org.uk26900:25:01,140 –> 00:25:06,140and don’t forget to leave your full name and address so we can send you your free gift.27000:25:06,260 –> 00:25:09,939For Open the Bible and Pastor Colin Smith, I’m David Pick27100:25:09,939 –> 00:25:11,900and I’ll hope you’ll join us again next time.27200:25:20,260 –> 00:25:22,500Taking care of your body is important27300:25:22,780 –> 00:25:24,459but this matters much more.27400:25:25,079 –> 00:25:27,979Find out what it is next time on Open the Bible.