Apologies. Where Do I Begin?

“Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.”

Psalm 51:4 

This passage always gives me pause.  David knew he had sinned against Bathsheba because he knew she was married.  He knew he had sinned against her husband, because he had set up his murder.  But all of this paled in comparison to David’s understanding of his sin against Almighty God.

Our sins in this life usually affect at least one other person and sometimes our sin results in problems for many people.  But when all is said and done, we are much like King David.  Ultimately our sin is against our Creator, who made us in His image and for His glory.

Often we are required by God to make apologies to those we have wronged, especially if they know of our sin.  But always, our first apology goes to the Lord.  We must get things right with Him in order to be able to make things right with our fellow man.

Do you have some apologizing to do today?  Why don’t you come clean with God?

Dear Lord, I am sorry for the times that I have failed you.  I regret my wrong attitudes, actions and speech.  Please forgive me and help me to not sin against you today. In Jesus’ Name.  Amen

 

Sherri

 

 

 

Looking a Fool

“For man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.”  James 1:20

The Bible records that Jesus was angry.  But only a few times, and each instance was marked by righteous anger.  Once he was angry because the people were turning the temple into a marketplace.  Another example was when the man with the withered hand was in the synagogue and the people were trying to trip Jesus up and prevent him from healing on the Sabbath.  There were a few other instances when he showed indignation (when the disciples tried to prevent the children from coming to him.)  Other than that, you do not see Jesus going around throwing fits.  His one most notable recorded incident of being angry was based in righteousness and indignation toward people who were exploiting the things of God.

But man’s anger, well… it does not bring about a righteous life.  Why?  Because often our anger is based in selfishness, pride, hypocrisy and fear.  Whereas Jesus’ anger only had to do with the things of God, rejecting of truth or trying to prevent God’s will from coming to pass, ours is often not so noble.  His anger was always rooted in righteous judgment.  When he declares something wrong, it is wrong.  When we declare something wrong, often it is just our opinion or our perspective.

That is why a Christian must endeavor to avoid anger as much as possible.  In fact, the Bible urges us to stay away from people who are hot-tempered.  Proverbs 29:11 states:  “A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control.”  When we are angry, it almost seems we must give vent to our feelings.  But exploding in anger often results in increasing anger and bad feelings.  Especially if through our venting our anger turns to sin and condemnation.

A Christian is wise, to hold back on venting their anger to the full extent.  There is wisdom in self-control. A truth the Lord has impressed on me many times is this:  if I have bad feelings in my heart toward someone, I must only apologize to God.  If I tell somebody off, I will have to apologize both to God and the one that I have behaved in an ungodly manner toward.  When it comes to apologies, less is more.  The less crow you have to eat, the less your tummy is sour!

Dear Lord, help me to be a person of control and restraint. Help me to walk in wisdom in relationships and to always demonstrate love, even in the midst of anger.  In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Sherri