Monday Reading: Proverbs 16:32
Key Verse: Proverbs 16:32
32 He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit is better than he who takes a city.
Devotion:
The more that we continue to live by the sword, the more that we will have to put up with the ways of the sword. Men continue to try to put down violence by using violence and the more that they do the more they have to put up with the consequences of that same violence. Many will argue that we have a right to defend ourselves, and that we do; but do we have the right to violence because of violence? It will be argued that this has got to be the case otherwise the violent will always rule but intelligence will go a whole lot further than any violence.
When we start to get going with some idea or ideal we tend to allow it to rule our lives. We start to defend that ideal more than we should and we uphold the idea more than that which is right. The more that we get caught up in something like that the more likely we are going to end up hurting those nearest and dearest to us because of the idea rather than what is right. Can this be true? Well we can look back at histories great leaders and find that they have had to do exactly that because they got carried away with their anger or their ways rather than upholding their friends. Alexander was a mighty leader who conquered so much, and yet he killed his best friends because he got carried away. We allow our passion for things to go too far and that is when we let down God.
If we are able to conquer our temper instead of trying to conquer the world then we will be much better placed to move forward with God on our side instead of leaping forward by ourselves. God is not going to support us if we are glorifying ourselves over Him because that breaks every commandment in a single stroke. We need to make sure that God comes first in our lives and when we start to do that we find that He gives us the guidance and the strength to withstand our tempers and our passion; He alone can give us the wisdom we need to carry out His work and to glorify Him above all else.
Points to Ponder:
How often do you lose your temper?
How often do you ignore God?
