Theme of the Week: Anger into Mercy
Bible Verse: “But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day” Proverbs 4:18
Scripture Reading: James 1:19-27
At the beginning of the week, we said that anger is not a problem to solve. Redeeming our anger is not a one-time deal.
Have you imagined going through life looking in the mirror only once and never again? Some people look in the mirror more than once a day. Why? Because we have poor memory. We need constant reminders.
David Powlison says, “How can something so instinctual, habitual, and automatic ever change? How can this inflated sense of self ever shrink, becoming the true size of a human being? We must be reoriented.”[mfn]Excerpt from Good and Angry: Redeeming Anger, Irritation, Complaining, and Bitterness David Powlison, New Growth Press. Used with permission.[/mfn]
Martin Luther’s first theses was, “Our Lord Jesus Christ willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.” At first glance, this may sound rather discouraging. If we look into it more carefully, Luther intended to encourage us by saying that repentance is the way to progress in the Christian walk.
New life in Christ implies death to old self. To be made new means awakening to new life. Have you ever wondered why Jesus promised to be with us always? Why He said it was for our own good that He was going to send His Holy Spirit? So we would rely and run to Him over and over.
Every day many things disturb us. We must learn to stop complaining, criticizing, arguing, and being bitter and hostile. The only way to do that is to rely daily on the mercies of Jesus. When we have victories, we attribute them to His grace. When we fail, we confidently cling to His mercy.
That’s a life of repentance. That’s how we reorient our lives, one glance at a time, into the mirror of who Jesus is, into whose likeness the Spirit is transforming us.
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