If you have any bitterness, anger, or jealousy in your heart, I hope you won’t have the audacity to tell others how committed to the Lord you are, because it won’t take long until people find out that you’re a liar. That will discredit the gospel truth quicker than anything I know. James 3:14
Have you ever noticed how Christians are depicted in most movies? We are often characterized as self-righteous and prideful manipulators, who go around judging people we don’t like or view as worldly. The more righteous a person is, the more he/she is perceived as a person full of pride in the eyes of the world. Is this true or have we been given a bad rap?
I want to qualify one truth. The born again Christian knows that the righteous (not self-righteous) are known for their humility and love walk and if they make waves, it will be for the sake of the gospel. So, this article is not about the truly righteous. It is about those who want to be viewed as righteous but don’t have the “stuff” in them to cause them to be consistent in their walk. They are reckless with the hearts of others. When they are pressed by the trials and issues of this life, that is when we are able to know who they really are. They are uncovered and their motives become evident for all to see. When the squeeze is on, we see what was inside of them; venom oozing out of them instead of the precious oil from the Lord.
In times of testing, what virtues or vices flows out of us? Are we believing that we are holy when we are a hypocrite? Are we holding onto bitterness against someone who has offended us, or are we presenting words of anger against a brother or sister because of something that was done to us, because we can’t get over the hurt. We often think things are so when they are not. We may think that we are all that and others are of less importance because we are filled with self-righteouness and we need to cast down vain thinking along with anger, bitterness and jealousy. Anger turns to bitterness and we are no longer able to discern correctly because of the darkness that is now resident in our hearts.
When someone who we feel is less than we are, or maybe we think they are not as smart or equipped as we are, get promoted by God, do we begin to allow jealousy to manifest in our hearts? Many people think they are better, smarter or more equipped than someone else and when promotion happens to the person who they feel they are better than, their heart begin to leak jealousy. Words are then spoken against the person for all ears to hear. Our opinion of this person becomes the gospel truth instead of focusing on the true gospel. We stop minding God’s business and begin to mind our drama. This is when we often witness character assassination against others by the words of their mouth which carries venom.
Something else happens to the person who is damaging the character of another person, they are uncovered and their jealous heart is revealed. Those who love the Lord will know this is a divisive person and those who don’t know or reverence the Lord, will reject anything that is associated with the church. We have all heard it said, “The biggest hypocrites in the world are in the Church.” Now we know that statement don’t make any sense and is the furthest thing from the truth.
Understand that when you practice character assassination, it will ultimately boomerang back to you. You will reap what you sow in this life. When we profess to be holy but produce the vice of bitterness, we cause those who are weak to discredit everything that we say. We become a spiritual joke to others. We must be careful to live the life we profess before others.
You can be all who God has called you to be. We are called to be vessels of love and power. Jesus gave us the authority to trample over every serpent of jealousy, anger, envy and bitterness, to profess and declare His glory in the earth. We are called to bear one another’s burdens and then carry them to the feet of Christ, but we have to remember that we are not the burden bearer; Jesus is the burden bearer. He bears our burdens and carries our sorrows. I encourage you to walk as imitators of Christ and love the brethren.
The wisdom that comes from above is first of all pure, then peace-loving, gentle, easy to get along with, compassionate, full of good works and free from partiality and hypocrisy. A harvest of righteousness can come only from seeds of kindness sown in peace by those who love peace.
James 3:17-18
Seek peace and pursue it! That’s God’s way of life.
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