Seeing so much anger nowadays, whether it be the masks or the schools or politics… and I am guilty of this myself….
I remember reading in The Purpose Driven Life that it is better to get along than to be right. I think I was told this a hundred times before I figured it out.
When I write my autobiography, One Million Times God Proved Me Wrong, I will include a chapter on my own pride and being right 🙂 ….
I want to share tonight some of James Chapter One (NIV).
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
We all face trials in our lives, and such trials producing perseverance seems natural… but what about considering it pure joy? I look back on every trial in my life and understand that each has developed me…
Romans 8:28 (KJV) 28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
But … Back to James Chapter One:
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.
Do you believe God will give you wisdom if you ask? I absolutely do…. Give it a shot, go to him with humility and ask for help….
and… it gets better:
19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.
In my life, I have found that the more I try to do as James 1:19 demands, the more peace and joy in my life….
I think about this with the situation in our school district all the way up to our Congress and President… what if more people were to be slow to anger?
I can tell you this …. you are not going to convince anyone of anything with a sharply worded email expressing anger. They will just use it to claim to be a victim, or simply not to listen to you…. I write this from much experience 🙂 …. and with patience and humility and listening, we all can not only get along better, but maybe convince a few people along the way….
So there are four more short chapters in James. If you have never read, I recommend giving it a shot… you only have peace and joy and salvation to gain.
-mike
Discerning Whitewater 