Cultivating meekness; handling anger biblically

How do you cultivate meekness?  How should one handle anger biblically?  Here is a biblical pattern to follow:

Recognize it and confess sin
Proverbs 28:13 says, “He who confesses his sin will prosper!”  Some Christians go through their entire lives handling anger sinfully.  They say things to people that really hurt them.  They try to keep their hands on the control of life and don’t show true humility.  They never deal with it because they won’t or don’t recognize it as a problem.

When you got angry or upset the last time did you promote the plan of God in the way that you got angry?  Or did you just get angry because some right or convenience of yours was denied?

See God in the trial
When something happens to you that gets you boiling or irritates you, you need to remember that a sovereign God allowed this to happen.  It must be good.  Do you do that?  Job was in excruciating pain of soul and body and he said, “I know that my Redeemer lives!”

Some people waste so much energy complaining about something that they never accomplish much.  “I can’t believe I have all these papers to write for class or my parents make me do these chores.”  Why not just use your energy to get them all done early!”  If you see God in the trial, you will be less apt to gripe about things.

And what about trials that you can do nothing about?  Direct your energy in prayer to God, direct it in thanksgiving, or toward handling the problem right, or in ministering to others in a similar condition.  Joseph did, “You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.”  “Count it a joy when you fall into trials.”  “God is working all things together for your good.”

Make room for God’s wrath

God says, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay!”  Don’t spend all your life trying to get revenge.  Let God take care of others!  Don’t get mad!  Don’t get even!  Don’t do it.  Others may mean it for evil, but God means it for your good.

Return good for what you think is evil

This is what Romans 12:12-21 is all about.  You will never overcome evil with evil.  You must overcome evil with good.

Communicate to solve problems

Ephesians 4:15 teaches that we are to speak the truth in love.  Loving communication will flow out from a meek spirit.  Ephesians 4:29 commands us not to let any corrupting talk come out of our mouth.  Meekness will result in speech that strives to  build the other person up,  speech that gives grace, and speech that is appropriate to the situation.  Before you respond to an offense with anger, ask these questions about what you will say:  Is it necessary?  Is it true?  Is it kind?

Act to solve your part in the problem

Ephesians 4:31-32 reminds us that we are not to react, but to act.  Verse 31 lists six negative reactions that display sinful anger.  But verse 32 tells us about acting to solve our problems biblically: be kind, be tenderhearted, and  forgive!  Impossible you say?  Well, don’t forgive that Christ forgave you of a much greater offense against Him than whatever offense someone else has given you. So put off “bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, slander, and malice.”

Sinful anger grieves the Holy Spirit, it distorts God’s glory, and it doesn’t not imitate our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  I trust God will use these posts to help us all cultivate meekness and handle anger biblically.

Read Full Post »

Little by little, brighter and brighter

In my Bible reading plan a few days ago, I read these two verses:

“Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and possess the land.” (Exodus 23:30, ESV).

“But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day.” (Proverbs 4:18, ESV).

One is talking about how God planned for Israel to conquer the Promised Land as they invaded it.  And the second contrasts the way of the wicked with the way of the godly.

Both of these describe, along with passages such as Philippians 1:6, Philippians 2:12 and 3:12-14, that  growth in godliness is a progressive activity. There aren’t any lightning bolt experiences or magic wands or some kind of whiffle dust that will give us “instant godliness.”  It never happens that way.  Godliness comes through struggle, by taking the land inch by inch, city by city.  It comes by progressively bringing sin out of the darkness and forsaking it.  It comes by daily storing up God’s Word in your heart and meditating on it, thinking God’s thoughts.

Parents expect this type of growth in their children.  Our oldest son Ian learned how to cut the grass one summer day but it took several weeks for him to make the straight lines I wanted, and not leave clumps here and there by cutting the end of a row too quickly.  Our daughter Camille has played the piano for years. She is not a child prodigy and will never compete in a world-class competition but she has month by month improved and made steady progress so that she can play and minister to others.  Our son Stefan likes playing basketball which involves all sorts of skills:  dribbling, rebounding, shooting, defending, boxing out, and passing.  This week I encouraged him to get open, want the ball, and drive to the basket. He made great improvement in those skills at his latest game.  But every week there is something to work on.

So it is in our Christian journey.  So don’t give up!  God will refine you little by little, step by step, so that you will shine brighter and brighter! Don’t grow weary.  Be strengthened by His grace. When you look ahead and see how much more work lies ahead in your conformity to Christ, look back and see how far you have come!  You may not shine with as much holiness as you want now, but overall you are shining more than last year, Lord willing!  Persevere!  Press on!

Read Full Post »

You think you are in debt?

Here’s what we owe. (And this is before t 2009 economic stimulus bill passed).

Read Full Post »

Trust and obey?

Are there concerns in your life currently that are not your responsibility?  Will you entrust them to God?

Are there responsibilities in your life currently that only you can fulfill?  God has given them to you and not to someone else?  It will not do good to pray about whether you should do these or not.  Will you obey God?

In what areas of your life are you trying to God’s job? In what areas are you trying to get God to do yours?

Read Full Post »