16. You are Always Either Blessing or Cursing

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Today’s episode opens with an elderly dog, detours through neuroscience and Genesis, and ends by quietly dismantling your default response to annoying people. Classic John Ortberg.

As Lent approaches, John invites us into a radical spiritual experiment: giving up condemnation. Not just blaming others, but the inner posture that withholds blessing from people (including ourselves).

Along the way, John explores:
Why the Bible’s first word is blessing, not judgment
How our emotional “like meter” secretly controls our willingness to bless
Insights from Jonathan Haidt on moral emotion
The famous 90-second rule from Jill Bolte Taylor for interrupting reactive spirals
And why disgust, not discernment, often fuels religious condemnation

This episode draws a crucial line between judging as discernment (wise) and judging as condemnation (corrosive). John shows how condemnation isn’t just something we think—it’s something we will. And when our will stops blessing, something in us starts breaking.

📚 Today's Resources:
The Happiness Hypothesis — Jonathan Haidt
Research on emotional regulation from Jill Bolte Taylor
Reflections on blessing in Genesis from Gordon Wenham
Teachings of Jesus on blessing enemies (Matthew 5)

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Music Credits:
Believe Me by Glass Echoes - MB01UU8HNMQ8GT0
Frost on My Window by Coldbrew - MB01IZWASF1DYPO