by David Brenneman
"The highway of the upright is to depart from evil; He who watches his way preserves his life." Proverbs 16:17.
"Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before stumbling." Proverbs 16:18.
"He who gives attention to the word will find good, And blessed is he who trusts in the Lord." Proverbs 16:20.
"There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death." Proverbs 16:25.
"The lot is cast into the lap, But its every decision is from the Lord." Proverbs 16:33.
"Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you." Ephesians 4:29-32.
It's often easy to defend our position against others in our lives. The key question to ponder is what is that defense doing to our hearts?
Many times a defense we come up with has an element of pride involved. We find that there's no place to retreat to so in obstinance we hold fast to it, regardless of how ridiculous we look.
Bitterness is sadly a pill all too easy to swallow. It's not beneficial at all yet pride says to include it if you're ever going to have something resembling your idea of peace.
We often come up with reasons to not trust people and make those reasons stick in order to avoid opening up ourselves.
This too can lead to numbness of the heart.
These thoughts are in direct conflict with the work of the Spirit of God in the lives of Believers.
Jesus said He came to give you life but not just life, life more abundant.
We cannot embrace self and embrace Christ too.
I know of people who think they have gotten away with being upset with me. Not in the sense that there's displays of anger but displays of other attributes of non-trust issues. There's a wall of separation between us that's there and shouldn't be because of the same relationship to Christ that we share. This has gone on for many years and they cannot see what it's done to them. My perception of it causes me to take it to Jesus in prayer. The Spirit can and will go where I cannot according to the Word of God and His plans for them and myself.
Accepted bitterness and even anger destroys fruit. Jesus said He is the vine and we are the branches. When we abide in Him we bear much fruit. When we don't we get pruned.
Numbness of the heart takes on various forms. Blatant acceptance of sin is another form. Coming up with reasons to say you're too busy for the things of God is another.
Embracing the world is another. We can be desensitized to the things of God by believing the world over the Word of God. Spiritual muscles will atrophy. Grow weak. Won't mount a defense against sin or its practices or passions.
Bitterness that is embraced means that forgiveness has never been offered or received. There's times when we need to forgive even if we never see someone again. It's a weed that shouldn't be growing in anyone's garden.
False judgment of others is because of bitterness of heart. We are not to condemn people to non-forgiveness. We aren't to condemn people by way of our actions in saying that they don't deserve Heaven.
What are we doing when we harbor anger or resentment in our hearts? We're self-sabotaging our relationship with Jesus. Period.
We hold things against others whether said or unsaid and we self-sabotage our relationship with Jesus.
We cannot grow in bitterness and anger and grow in Christ at the same time.
We cannot harbor ill feelings towards others whom in fact Jesus died for as well as ourselves and expect to grow in Christ at the same time.
We cannot hold to a false narrative about people, never seeking to know the truth, and expect to grow in Christ.
Christians are either cultivating righteousness or unrighteousness. One is material for a future crown to give to Jesus the other throws that material away.
The choice is ours. Pride gets in the way of the righteous life that God desires for you and I. Deciding to not have the time or to make the time to make things right between Believers is a sin. Scripture says that He who knows the right thing to do and does not do it sins.
We're not going to get through life without people hurting us or those we know. Forgiveness has to happen because Jesus first forgave us. We offended the Holy God of the Bible. We didn't deserve forgiveness but in Christ we have it through our salvation in Christ Jesus alone.
"We love, because He first loved us. If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also." 1 John 4:19-21.
To have bitterness is the same as having hate. Bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander all are wall building materials in our hearts...but realize my Dear Reader...the first wall built isn't between you and someone you know. The first wall is between you and your Savior. These things are a slippery slope.
Start off 2025 with a clean slate and a pure heart. Forgive, let go, move forward with Jesus Christ your Savior in the way that He's wanted for you.
All NASB 1995 and NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission. (C) Lockman Foundation.
No comments:
Post a Comment