Grief Is a Gift

[Grief Is a Gift]( Current Teaching Series [How to Get Through What You're Going Through]( [Listen to Today's Broadcast]( [Grief Is a Gift]( By Rick Warren — 07/11/2023 [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Pinterest]( [Email](mailto:?subject=I'd%20like%20to%20share%20a%20Daily%20Devotional%20from%20Pastor%20Rick%20with%20you&body= “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” Matthew 5:4 (NIV) Grief is, without a doubt, the most painful emotion we go through in life. It’s also the most helpful emotion. How is grief helpful to you? Grief is God’s tool for you to get through the transitions of life. If you don’t grieve your losses, you get stuck. Many people are still stuck at age 14 or 28 or 45, because they didn’t grieve a major loss in their life, and they got stuck there. Not going through the grieving process leaves us with all kinds of anxieties and fears and low self-esteem. Jesus never did anything wrong or unhealthy—and yet Jesus grieved. The Bible says he was a man acquainted with sorrows. The Bible says that, when his friend Lazarus died, Jesus grieved. He even wept! Sadness is not weakness. In fact, the stronger you are, the more confident you are and the less afraid you are to show your emotions. There are two unhealthy reactions to loss: One is repression, and the other is suppression. Repression is when you unconsciously try to block painful thoughts from your mind. Suppression is when you do it consciously. You intentionally say, “I’m not going to think about that hurt. I’m not going to think about that pain. I’m going to put my head down and move forward.” To not grieve losses is a mistake. Why? Because grief is God’s gift to get us through the changes in life. If you don’t let your grief out in healthy ways, then you’re going to act it out in unhealthy ways. When you swallow your grief, your body rejects it. Doctors have said that a lot of illnesses that people have come from unresolved grief, regrets, and resentment. A lot of the pain in our backs or our aching necks is there because we hold emotions inside of us that God never intended for us to keep bottled up. He wants you to let them out through your grief. Life’s losses are unavoidable, but grief is a choice. You have to choose to grieve. You have to embrace it so that you can move forward with hope. [PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick >>]( Talk It Over - Why do you think there is often a stigma around expressing grief and sadness, as if it is a sign of weakness? - How have you seen bottled-up grief cause physical pain in you or someone else? - Do you know someone who is grieving right now? In what ways can you best support them? The post [Grief Is a Gift]( appeared first on [Pastor Rick's Daily Hope](. [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Pinterest]( [Email](mailto:?subject=I'd%20like%20to%20share%20a%20Daily%20Devotional%20from%20Pastor%20Rick%20with%20you&body= [Get the How to Get Through What You're Going Through Study Kit when you give a gift to support Daily Hope!]( Life often doesn’t make sense, and sometimes you simply don’t know why things happen the way they do. But you can still experience peace because God is with you, and he loves you. That’s why Pastor Rick and his wife Kay created the How to Get Through What You’re Going Through Bible study—to help you better understand and navigate the journey of grief. Perfect for personal or a small group study, the How to Get Through What You’re Going Through study kit includes a 7-session DVD and workbook. You can also share this groundbreaking study with someone you love. [LEARN MORE]( [Complete Audio Series (Purchase)]( Includes 8 full-length messages from Pastor Rick's series How to Get Through What You're Going Through. [LEARN MORE]( [Series Summary]( Message 1: How We're Getting Through Message 2: When Your World Collapses Message 3: Getting Through Life's Losses Message 4: Struggle: When Life Makes No Sense Message 5: Surrender: The Path to Peace Message 6: Never Waste a Pain Message 7: Transformed by Trouble Message 8: Finding Treasure in Darkness by Kay Warren [PLAY TODAY'S BROADCAST]( Pastor Rick Warren [Facebook]( [Instagram]( [Linkedin]( Enjoy today's devotional? Listen to Pastor Rick’s daily audio teaching at [PastorRick.com]( Did someone forward this devotional to you? [Subscribe to Pastor Rick Warren's Daily Devotional.]( Rick Warren is the founding pastor of [Saddleback Church]( one of America’s largest and most influential churches. Pastor Rick is the author of the New York Times bestseller [The Purpose Driven Life](. His book [The Purpose Driven Church]( was named one of the 100 Christian books that changed the 20th century. 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