“In the spring of
1894, the Baltimore Orioles came to Boston to play a routine baseball
game. But what happened that day was
anything but routine. The Orioles’ John
McGraw got into a fight with the Boston third baseman. Within minutes all the players from both
teams had joined in the brawl. The
warfare quickly spread to the grandstands.
Among the fans the conflict went from bad to worse. Someone set fire to the stands and the entire
ballpark burned to the ground. Not only
that, but the fire spread to 107 other Boston buildings as well” (Daily Bread, August 13, 1992).
Uncontrolled anger
expressed in the heat of the moment usually produces unintentional and
unexpected consequences. As disciples of
Christ we are called to a higher standard and how we handle and express
ourselves in times of frustration is no different. James 1:19-20 tells us clearly the results of
hasty speech and anger and none of them reveal God’s righteousness. Perhaps you have found yourself in a
situation where anger has quickly risen to the surface only to regret the hasty
words that have left your mouth. It is
easy to remind ourselves the righteous results of self-control, but to live it
out is much more difficult.
The next two
Sunday mornings will find us digging into God’s Word in James. Whereas this week we will study the results
of uncontrolled anger and hasty speech, next week we will discover the mark of
genuine Christianity. I would encourage
us all to read through and study the first chapter in James in preparation for
this week. May God speak to us as we
study His Word and may the Spirit reveal to us His Truth, transforming us as
His disciples.
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