ravenhillIf you attend church at all, you will undoubtedly hear a thousand sermons on “Be filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:18) for every one sermon you hear preached on “Be ye angry, and sin not” (Eph.4:26). This is a command! It is not a defense for a bad temper. It is not an excuse for an explosion of bitterness from your bruised ego for personal rejection. I am talking here of Holy Anger. God gets angry: “The anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses” (Exodus 4:14); “God is angry with the wicked every day” (Psalm 7:11). (If you must have a bumper sticker, try this last statement for a while -- but be sure that you increase your insurance before you do so.) 

The blessed preacher St. Paul walked down Main Street Athens, the intellectual capital of the world of his day.

Read more: Be Ye Angry and Sin Not

ravenhill

Until recently, we were pretty much in the dark about the human body. But then came the X-ray with its peeping eye...a marvelous instrument which has saved us much human misery. It was able to show us the human heart, but it couldn’t show us the soul or it could show us the throat, but not the voice. The brain, but not the mind. Nevertheless, medical science has done much to help this outward man that perishes. If our eyes are getting dim, we can get glasses. If our kidneys or heart fail, we can have a transplant. But as far as I know, there is one member of the body that has never been transplanted. If we used our arms and legs as much as we use this part, we’d be incredibly stiff and sore. But this member never gets tired, and I’ve never seen one with a splint on it. As you get older you may get dentures - but you will always have the same tongue you were born with! There are artificial joints made these days, but no artificial tongues.
Read more: The Taming Of The Tongue

sunflowerBad things happen.

People make mistakes. Say the wrong thing. Do the wrong thing. React and act out. It just happens. No one is always perfectly behaved, and sometimes our actions hurt other people.

When our actions hurt others, and there is a breech in relationship, repairing that breech and restoring the relationship need to be a top priority. One of the first steps we should take is issuing an apology.

Simple enough, right? We go to the offended party, admit our wrong doing, acknowledge the hurt we have caused, and say we are sorry.

If we are Jesus people, and our offense was sinful, we must also repent to the Lord. That is an absolute must, as our sinfulness also created a breech between us and God.

Read more: What An Apology Isn't