God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry?–Jonah 4:9

Anger is not always or necessarily sinful, but it has such a tendency to run wild that whenever it displays itself, we should be quick to question its character, with this enquiry, “Doest thou well to be angry?” It may be that we can answer, “YES.” Very frequently anger is the madman’s firebrand, but sometimes it is Elijah’s fire from heaven. We do well when we are angry with sin, because of the wrong which it commits against our good and gracious God; or with ourselves because we remain so foolish after so much divine instruction; or with others when the sole cause of anger is the evil which they do. He who is not angry at transgression becomes a partaker in it. Sin is a loathsome and hateful thing, and no renewed heart can patiently endure it. God himself is angry with the wicked every day, and it is written in His Word, “Ye that love the Lord, hate evil.” Far more frequently it is to be feared that our anger is not commendable or even justifiable, and then we must answer, “NO.” Why should we be fretful with children, passionate with servants, and wrathful with companions? Is such anger honourable to our Christian profession, or glorifying to God? Is it not the old evil heart seeking to gain dominion, and should we not resist it with all the might of our newborn nature? Many professors give way to temper as though it were useless to attempt resistance; but let the believer remember that he must be a conqueror in every point, or else he cannot be crowned. If we cannot control our tempers, what has grace done for us? Some one told Mr. Jay that grace was often grafted on a crab-stump. “Yes,” said he, “but the fruit will not be crabs.” We must not make natural infirmity an excuse for sin, but we must fly to the cross and pray the Lord to crucify our tempers, and renew us in gentleness and meekness after His own image.–Charles Spurgeon

Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.–Eph. 4:31-32

It would be good if we all began every day by reading these verses. It would be better if there was no need to do so! But, the fact is that none of us are that holy– we need such daily reminders. So, just as an experiment, would you try this— commit yourself to reading these two verses first thing every morning for the next week, and then pray for ten seconds each time asking God to help you do as He commands? How about it? It can’t hurt anything and it just might help a lot. If it enabled you to avoid just one argument it would be well worth the effort.

J. R. Miller wrote, “A wise man says, ‘Every man takes care that his neighbors shall not cheat him—but a day comes when he begins to care—that he does not cheat his neighbors. Then all goes well.’ So long as a man sees only the quarrelsome temper of his neighbor—he is not far toward holiness. But when he has learned to watch and to try to control his own temper, and to weep over his own infirmities—he is on the way to Christ-likeness, and will soon be conqueror over his own weakness!

Life is too short to spend even one day of it in bickering and strife! Love is too sacred to be forever lacerated and torn by the ugly briers of sharp temper! Surely we ought to learn to be loving and patient with others—since God has to show every day such infinite patience toward us! Is not the very essence of true love—the spirit that is not easily provoked, that bears all things? Can we not, then, train our life to sweeter gentleness? Can we not learn to be touched even a little roughly, without resenting it? Can we not bear little injuries, and apparent injustices, without flying into a rage? Can we not have in us something of the mind of Christ, which will enable us, like him, to endure all wrong and injury and give back no word or look of bitterness? The way over which we and our friend walk together, is too short to be spent in wrangling.”

By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.–John 13:35

There is one unfailing mark of Christian character, wherever it is found: Love is always in it. Whatever else may be or may not be in the new life of the Christian—the scarlet thread of love is always woven into the character. God is love, and the believer in Christ, is in a measure, like God. To be a Christian is to have Christ in the heart; and Christ is love. Not to have love—is not to be a Christian.

The first effect of faith in Christ—is the springing up of love in the heart of him who believes. This love does not lie hidden—but is revealed in the life. It shows itself in love for God; but there is no love for God—which does not also make the heart warm toward man. He who loves not his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.

Christian love is not a mere beautiful sentiment, glowing like a radiant vision in the soul—but fading the moment we meet our brothers in actual life; it is a love that becomes the very mainspring of all action, the burning heart of all ambition. It is a love that makes us pitiful toward all human sorrow, gentle toward human infirmity, helpful toward human need, patient under human unkindness and injury, and ready at every call to do and suffer and sacrifice.-J. R. Miller

Every word of God is pure– Proverbs 30:5a

When you watch a play, read books, take in a movie, or even converse with friends, you must have the filter on. Is this worldview right? Are these ideas true? Is this lesson correct? Is the moral of this story actually moral?

But when we come to the Word of God, all the filters must come off. The reason why is that there is no filter—our own ideals, the best philosophies, the most scientific theories—that is as pure as the Word of God itself. If we filter the words of God through our own understanding, then we contaminate, rather than purify, the ideas which are conveyed.

Every word of God is pure. There is not a drop of foolishness in the ocean of God’s revelation. There is not a single falsehood within the many pages of the Bible. Every word of God is trustworthy because every word of God is true.

How do you read your Bible? Do you read it with the filter of your own wisdom, desires, and preconceptions? Or are you allowing the unadulterated word of God to wash over your receptive soul, cleansing it of every prejudice, personal ambition, and sinful ideology?

God’s Word should be a set of glasses through which we view all the rest of the world — music, psychology, biology, journalism, business practices, college lectures, or retirement plans. Anything else is just one fallen head influencing another fallen head.–Copied