Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires.” James 1:20 NLT
Are you quick to get angry? Do you struggle with keeping your temper in check? It is so easy to let our sinful nature please itself with outbursts of spontaneous anger. Perhaps your spouse said something you didn't like, perhaps a co-worker is giving you grief, perhaps an encounter with an unexpected situation. Regardless of the circumstance, anger is lurking, trying to establish it's foothold in our lives. Now, to get angry isn't a sin. “And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.” Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry,” Ephesians 4:26 NLT What we do with that impulsive moment of anger is what becomes sinful, or not. We all must decide, in that moment, who we will submit to: Jesus or ourselves. The choice determines the outcome. James 1:20 says that our anger doesn't accomplish God's desire. When we walk in the Holy Spirit, rather than our sinful flesh, we do what pleases God. Listen to this instruction: “For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another. So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions.” Galatians 5:13-17 NLT The one you submit to is the one you will serve. Who are you serving today?
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March 2020
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