Honoring God When You Want to Throw Fists
- Rachael Stewart
- Mar 19, 2018
- 4 min read
You might be a little taken by surprise with the title of this article. In fact, I feel rather odd keeping it, but I think it perfectly sums up something that we all deal with. How many of you, myself included, have ever been so mad at someone that all you felt like doing was cursing them out and throwing up the middle fingers for the world to see? Woah! That's coming from a church girl's mouth? I know, crazy right?, but I also know that you read that and most likely agreed in the back of your mind.
Rage and frustration are not things that suddenly disappear when you choose to follow Jesus. We are human. We are flawed, We are emotional creatures. It's totally natural to want to sucker punch someone when they do you wrong or when they upset you. Our natural emotions may not change, but the way we deal with them can change if we choose to always put God first.
I hate to break it to you, but frustration is not gonna go away any time soon. Maybe it's a friend who betrayed you, a cat caller who you would love to tell off, a boss who you feel trapped by, a person who cuts you off in traffic. Whatever the situation, we have all had choice words we would love nothing more than to express, but maybe realize there is a better way to express ourselves.
Let's take a quick detour and talk about why it's so important to not let our emotions get the best of us. Believe it or not, people are always watching. We are walking witnesses for Jesus and sometimes we are the only Bibles people read. If they see us and see hatred, retaliation, bitterness, and immaturity, they are going to think that is how all Christians are and they are not going to have any desire to want to know the one Christians live for. Think about it. If you saw representatives for some group that preached one thing but did another, you might be kind of skeptical. I mean if you saw Chef Boyardee chowing down on some Kraft mac n cheese, would you really believe his noodles were the best? Anyway, ignore my random train of thought and really dwell on the fact that we need to live out what Jesus tells us to do in order to glorify Him and bring more people to want to know and love Him.
Alright, now how do we move past the rage and frustration and move towards grace, love, and kindness? Luke 6:27 says "But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you". Romans 12:9 says "Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good." Romans 8:31 says "What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?" And so beautifully and boldly John 15:13 says "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends".
Luke 6:27 shows us that no matter who it is, we need to reach out to them in love. We may not like them, but we need to love them. Romans 12:9 teaches us that when we do love, we need to make it real and real love lives boldly. Real love reaches past anger and hatred. Real love looks past mistakes, disagreements, or differences and says "I am not giving up on you. You are still a child of God." Romans 8:31 shows us that we have nothing to be upset about because we have the God of all creation on our side. We don't need to retaliate or try and get revenge because God is fighting our battles for us. He is on our side and is working things together for our good. These bumps along the way hold no power over us because God has it all planned out. And John 15:13 embodies how we need to live our lives because even as we were still sinners, still broken, still foes to Jesus, He gave His life for us. Why? Because He loves us. He LOVES us. I want you to really take notice of the word friend in John 15:13. Jesus is a friend to us sinners. Jesus is a friend to those who betrayed Him, who wronged Him, who angered Him, who hurt Him. Jesus is a friend to those who we can't bring ourselves to forgive or show kindness to. Let's follow in His footsteps and turn our foes into friends. Let's love even when it hurts. Let's forgive even when the other person doesn't seem sorry. Let's relinquish the hatred and hurt that has chained up our souls and realize that we don't need to carry that burden any longer. Reach out in love when the only thing that makes sense is fury. I leave you with this verse to pray about and live out 1 Peter 4:8 "Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins."
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