Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Anger”
Our Bible verse for today: “If anyone says, ‘I love God’, yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.” 1 John 4:20-21 (NIV)
Our thought for today: “Your love for God must be displayed in love for others.”
As we’ve learned this month, sometimes situations in life can be the focus of our anger and at other times we may be angry at ourselves, but more often it’s other people who have provoked the sense of anger within us.
This is a problem because except for those rare cases where we’re talking about righteous anger that is properly expressed, anger directed towards other people is misplaced and does not honor God. Worse, anger inappropriately expressed can in no way be described as loving, and as 1 John 4:20-21 teaches that then damages our relationship with God.
In this passage the Apostle drew a direct connection between our love for others and our love for God. “Whoever loves God must also love his brother.” and “For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.”
There is a reciprocal relationship between loving God and loving people. And remember the main point from yesterday’s devotional message, “You must love people in deed not just in word.” Words are cheap. Just saying you love someone isn’t enough. Your actions have to back-up your words. Anger which is inappropriately expressed is unloving and therefore not only damages our relationship with the other person, but also with God.
So before you let anger take control of your words and deeds, think for a moment about what you’re about to say or do, and then consider if you would say or do the same thing directed to God rather than to this other person.
Relationships matter and relationships are easily damaged. At the end of their lives people commonly have more regrets about damaged relationships than they do about anything else.
I encourage you to care for your relationships with other people as much as you care for your relationship with God. God Himself established a direct connection between the two.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 