Is there a critic in your life you can never seem to please?

Dr. Mike Ladra describes the chronic fault finder: someone who never listens, turns every opinion into a commandment, and carries a tank of discontentment that nothing can fill. Using Winston Churchill's life, he shows how criticism is so often driven by insecurity, jealousy and envy, and he asks every critic one question: can I imagine Jesus thinking or saying what I'm about to say? Even Jesus couldn't stop the Pharisees from criticizing Him, so Dr. Mike gives four ways to live with critics: realize the facts won't stop them, ignore 95% of criticism but humbly say "you are right" when it's true, never stoop to retaliation, and be fair to yourself. Along the way he shares Aesop's fable of the man, the boy and the donkey, and Teddy Roosevelt's "man in the arena."

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📖 Scripture: John 8:59

🎙️ Speaker: Dr. Mike Ladra

📚 Series: How To Break The Anger Habit (Part 5 of 7)

📅 Date: February 8, 2009

🏷️ Topics: Criticism · Anger · Insecurity

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🌐 Visit us at HopeSermons.org for more of Dr. Ladra's sermons!

#Criticism #Anger #Insecurity

Has someone's words ever broken your heart?

Dr. Mike Ladra shows how cruel words ended the intimacy between King David and his wife Michal, and why "I'm just being honest" is no excuse for what Thomas Merton called murderous truth. He gives three ways to make your mouth Christian: let God's Word examine your tongue and ask whether Jesus would say what you're about to say, take a time out and pass the THINK test before you speak, and get rid of family baggage like interrupting, profanity and gossip. Through the story of Johnny, a grocery bagger with Down syndrome, he reminds us what it looks like to speak words that give life.

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📖 Scripture: Proverbs 18:21

🎙️ Speaker: Dr. Mike Ladra

📚 Series: How To Break The Anger Habit (Part 4 of 7)

📅 Date: February 1, 2009

🏷️ Topics: Words · Gossip · Anger

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🌐 Visit us at HopeSermons.org for more of Dr. Ladra's sermons!

#Words #Gossip #Anger

Why do good people hurt the people they love?

Dr. Mike Ladra explains that the problem is rarely the problem. It's the baggage we carry from our history, and it shows up every day in our marriages, our parenting and our work. Unresolved hurts become the "cranky code" that triggers our anger, which is why hurt people hurt people and why so many of us end up repeating our family's patterns. Drawing on Paul's words, "When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me," he shows how to break the cycle: study your history and admit your baggage, humbly say "My behavior has been childish, forgive me," and replace automatic reactions with new choices made by the power of the Holy Spirit.

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📖 Scripture: 1 Corinthians 13:11

🎙️ Speaker: Dr. Mike Ladra

📚 Series: How To Break The Anger Habit

📅 Date: January 25, 2009

🏷️ Topics: Anger · Baggage · Maturity

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🌐 Visit us at HopeSermons.org for more of Dr. Ladra's sermons!

#Anger #Baggage #Maturity