What Angers You?

Yesterday in Bible class the teacher made an interesting comment.  He said that anger is the opposite of love, that whatever angers you is what you love.  I was talking to my boys about that later and one of them said that it couldn't be right because he gets angry with people, but that doesn't mean he loves them.  (We then had a little lesson on how we ARE to love everyone, but he knew that, just meant he didn't LOVE, love them.).

I kept thinking about that lesson and how anger related to love and realized something.  If people anger me, then what is it about the people that anger me?  To be honest, it's usually because they aren't doing what I want them to do, or they aren't doing it how I think it should be done!  What angers me is that I'm not getting my way!

So this morning before school, I talked to the boys again and asked questions:

Question: What about people makes you angry?
Answer: When they are being a doofus!

Question: But WHAT about it is making them a doofus?  Is it because they aren't doing something the way you think it should be done?  (I mentioned that I was thinking this way because of my own issues, not theirs!)
Answer: Yeah.

Question: Why do you get angry if it's not done how you think it should be?
Answer: I'm not in control.

Question:  So where is the problem.
Answer: With me.  (I confessed that it's the same way with me!)

Then later when I was talking to my husband about it, we mentioned that selfishness was the problem.  I want it my way!  And most likely, you want it your way, too!  And my husband said what we know from God's Word, that it boils down to pride.  Pride is at the root of many sins.

So what angers you?  Look deeper than the surface.  It may not be what you think it is.  Sin should anger us.  Sin angers God.  But our anger should never cause us to sin.  That's when pride has to be turned to humility.  Sometimes I won't get my way. Sometimes you won't get yours.  Sometimes we have to swallow our pride.

 “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, Ephesians 5:26

For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. 1 John 2:16

The Inferiority Complex

The Inferiority Complex....

It's the opposite of the Superiority Complex - what we usually think of when we think of pride.  But, in reality, it's just as bad for us, and our relationship with God as one of His children, when the pride comes from the other end of the spectrum.

The Inferiority Complex is a type of pride I'll be teaching about tonight in Ladies' Bible Class.  I found a great lesson about this complex and how it relates to the problem we have of pride.  Here is a quote from the lesson:

"Feeling inadequate is exactly what we all should feel, because then we'll depend on the Lord to make us competent. As Paul said, "Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God" (2 Corinthians 3:4-5). Jesus said, "Apart from me you can do nothing!" (John 15:5). His Holy Spirit lives within us from baptism on (Acts 2:37-39). The same Person who empowered the Lord Jesus in His ministry is in residence in our hearts." 

Our reliance is on Him. He makes us competent...not ourselves. We get in trouble when we focus too much on SELF.

Think about it:

We compare ourselves to others and we worry about what they think of US.

We don't feel adequate in our job, our role as a wife or mother. We worry about what people think about US.

Do you see how it is all coming back to SELF???  When we worry about how we compare to others or when we measure our worth by performance or appearance, we are going to feel insecure.  Those insecurities all lead back to SELF.  That's what makes it a form of pride.  Pride is thinking of SELF too much.

So, how can we get rid of this selfish attitude?  We can only do that by relying on God.  We must realize that HE is the source of our strength and our abilities.  When we learn to put our complete trust and faith in Him, those insecurities will go away.  Keeping our eyes on Jesus.....keeping our head looking up and not at self....that is the best way to turn your thoughts around.  That will be the beginning of a new life - a life not focused on ourselves - but focused on the only One who can make that inferiority complex go away.

For in him you have been enriched in every way--with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge. 1 Corinthians 1:5

Put it to work:  Read the scripture above, but where it says "YOU" say "I".  Put special emphasis on the words IN HIM.

It will read "For IN HIM "I" have been enriched in every way -- with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge.  IN HIM....IN HIM.....He has done things for ME.  Say that over and over and over in your mind. :)

Hard for Me to Say I'm Sorry

Yes, the title is borrowed from an '80's love song from my very favorite group, Chicago.  But today it's not referring to some love song.  Today it has to do with saying sentimental things.  For some people, it is really very hard for them to say "I'm sorry".  In fact, some people never say it at all.

Often people have trouble saying things that need to be said.  Things that are from the heart....things like:

I was wrong.            
I forgive you.                        
I love you.        
Please.                    
Thank you.                            
You're welcome.

Why is is hard to say these things?  We don't want to be wrong.  We don't want to even admit that we might be wrong.  Some of us more have more trouble with this than others.

We have four children.  One of them will apologize immediately after they do something wrong.  This child has a very tender heart and recognizes the wrongdoing very quickly.  Two of our children are the opposite.  They rarely, if ever, admit wrongdoing, much less apologize for it.  The other child is sort of in the middle....sometimes saying sorry and sometimes not.  The differences in our children are evident, but interesting.  We try not to compare them to each other verbally, although it's just obvious that some are one way and some are another.  It's good for them - and for us - to realize and recognize differences in themselves and in others.

God made us all differently.  We're all unique.  But we also all sin differently.  It's the sin in our lives we must recognize and be willing to confess to our Father in heaven.  We need forgiveness for that sin, but we have to ask for it.  If we don't recognize it, we won't ask for forgiveness, will we?  Now you see why it's important.  We must analyze our lives and see where we need improvement.

It doesn't matter what kind of personality you and I have.  It doesn't matter about our talents and abilities.  ALL of us can learn to have good manners and be courteous to others.  For some it will take more work than for others.  For some it comes naturally to say all of those sentimental statements.  For others it will be like pulling teeth to get "I'm sorry," out of our mouths!

Sin comes in three forms.  It can be broken down into three categories:  The lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life.  These sentimental thoughts, and the inability or the refusal to say these things mostly come from the third area of sin - the pride of life.  We tend to be prideful people, and saying "I'm sorry," or "I was wrong" is something that is hard for a prideful person to do.  Pride can even be the cause for not saying "Thank you" or "You're welcome".  Our pride keeps us from being humble.  Pride keeps us from looking like Jesus.

For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.

1 John 2:16-17

For the rest of this week, try to use the sentimental statements above at least once a day.  More often would be even better.  Make a concentrated effort to say what you need to say to others.  Don't go through life any longer without saying the things that need to be said.  Recognize sin in your life.  It's easy to recognize it in the lives of others, isn't it?  Yes.  We're pretty good at that.  But we have a much harder time seeing it in our own lives.

We can change.  We can become more like Jesus.  God and His Spirit within us will help us change.    We just have to be willing to give up our pride and selfish desires.  We must be humble.  We can grow to look more and more like Jesus.  Let's get started!

Pride and Glory

Yesterday was our junior high and high school awards assembly.  Our small school has had an extremely successful year this year, with state champions in many areas, as well as teams going further than they've gone in years.


This morning on Facebook, our high school librarian was again congratulating the speech teacher for the speech teams' success, and telling her she wasn't getting enough credit for her hard work and success.  The speech teacher wrote back: "Thanks! My goal is to keep them winning and keep me a secret!"  Isn't that awesome?  SHE doesn't want the success for HER....she wants it for her students.  Of course she's proud of them, but it is apparent that her pride comes from what they are doing and not on what she is doing.


Many mornings I go to Biblegateway.com for my daily Bible reading.  I use the verse of the day they have on the home page, expand it to the whole chapter, and use it as a study.  Today's verse went right with the speech teachers thought, but in a spiritual sense:

“God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them." 

Hebrews 6:10

You probably know, as I do, some who want glory for themselves.  Success can turn into self-pride in a hurry.  However, if we're truly concerned with being successful, we will care about helping others be successful and not with what we get out of it.  Just like our speech teacher, Jesus went about doing good for others....never worrying about whether or not his ego was being puffed up.  Sadly, the latter is seen far too often.

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.” 

Colossians 3:23

Grandma's Pride

Raise your hand if you've ever had a problem with pride.  Yep.  That's what I thought.  And, I have, too. 

We probably all have had problems with pride at some time in our life.  But, with pride, as with every other sin, the first step to forgiveness for the sin is admitting the sin, and then confessing the sin. 

Such is the case when my mom, and "Grandma" to our four children, sent me the following email today. It's referring to early last week when the three boys stayed at my parents house for a few days.

Via email to me from my mom, "Grandma":
I thought you might enjoy this story---actually it’s my admission of being “prideful.” I’ve thought about this ever since the boys were here---that: “Pride Goeth before the Fall.” I finally confessed to Larry last night on the way to church.

My confession was the reason why my back has really been hurting since last Tuesday night.

When Tyler (Note: My youngest son)and I were playing ball, he told me before I batted----- “Grandma, I don’t mean this bad, but you’re probably not going to hit the ball as good as I did.”

Well, prideful Grandma decided that I would just show him—I swung and hit the ball as hard as I could, not once but several times. I even got to where I could drop my right arm and swing with the left arm and the ball would go even further. Tyler grinned when I hit it each time. I was so proud of myself.

By Friday, my back was not in good shape!!!!!!

I knew why, too. The saying about pride comes to mind every time I think of that story and my hurting back!!!!!!!!

Larry (Note: my dad) laughed when I told him that---I do, too, when I think about it.

I’ll have to remember this story for Tyler.
 
(The end of the email.)
 
I want to make sure you all realize that this post is used with permission.  I wouldn't have confessed Grandma's pride without asking first!
 
What are you needing to confess?
 

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

1 John 1:9

Not Nearly as Big

I received this via email from Alan Smith's Thought for the Day.  It has such a great message so I wanted to share it with you.

NOT NEARLY AS BIG

I heard a story recently about the University of Tennessee football coach. He bought a bolt of cloth thinking he would have a suit made out of it. He took the material to his tailor in Knoxville where the tailor measured him, examined the bolt of cloth, did some computations on a piece of paper, and said, "I'm sorry, coach, there just isn't enough material in this bolt to make a suit for you." The coach was disappointed, but he threw the bolt of cloth in the trunk of his car, wondering what he was going to do with it.

A couple of weeks later he was in Tuscaloosa, Alabama -- the home of the Crimson Tide (arch enemies of the Volunteers). He was on his way to the coast for a vacation. Driving down the main street in Tuscaloosa, he noticed a tailor shop, which reminded him that he had that bolt of cloth in the trunk. He stopped, thinking he would give it a try. He told the tailor he had bought this bolt of cloth and wondered if he could do anything with it.

The tailor measured him, measured the bolt of cloth, did some computations. Finally he said, "Coach, I can make you a suit out of this bolt. What's more, I can make you an extra pair of pants. And if you really want it, I can give you a vest out of this, too."

The coach was dumbfounded. "I don't understand," he said. "My tailor in Knoxville told me he couldn't even make one suit out of this bolt of cloth." The tailor said, "Coach, here in Tuscaloosa, you are not nearly as big a man as you are in Knoxville."

Paul warned each of us in Romans 12:3, “not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think.” It is easy for us to make the mistake of being that we are "bigger" than we really are (the Pharisee who prayed in the temple next the the tax collector in Luke 18 comes to mind).

The church in Laodicea made this mistake. They said, "I am rich, have become wealthy and have need of nothing" (Revelation 3:17). Jesus responded to them by saying, in essence, "You don't realize how poor you really are." The sad part is that God can do nothing to help people who are self-sufficient, people who are "big" in their own eyes.

Jesus reminded us (both by his teachings and his life) that to be viewed as "big" in the eyes of God, we need to be willing to be viewed as "small" in the eyes of those around us, willing to serve, ready to find our significance not in our abilities, achievements, or possessions, but in the glory we bring to God in our lives.

"For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

 (Luke 14:11)

Have a great day!

Alan Smith

Helen Street Church of Christ

Fayetteville, North Carolina

The Chronicles of Biscuit - "I'm Not Braggin' or Nothin' "

The Chronicles of Biscuit (Nickname for our youngest son)

This is our daughter's FFA show pig.  His name is Berk.  Last weekend was our county livestock show and during the show, while Lauren was showing Berk, Biscuit said, "Mom, I'm not braggin' or nothin', but Lauren's pig looks pretty good."  I agreed.  Berk did look good - for a pig.  Personally, I like red haired pigs the best....don't have a clue what kind they are, but another son shows one of them!

Biscuit thought the judge should pick Berk as the Grand Champion.  Berk did good - even won his breed (which is Berk, actually), but he didn't win Grand Champion. I thought Biscuit's comment was interesting (though it wasn't proper English using not and nothin') because I wasn't sure he realized what braggin' meant.  I guess he did.

Braggin' is something we've tried to teach our children not to do, but it's been kind of hard at times.  There's a fine line between being proud in a braggin' way and being proud in a non-braggin' way.  Being proud is okay as long as we're giving God the credit and not wanting credit for ourselves.  The pride comes from knowing that our God-given talents and abilities are being used to His glory and not our own.

I love this version of Proverbs 16:18:

First pride, then the crash—
the bigger the ego, the harder the fall. (The Message)

WHAT NOT TO WEAR

My mom is responsible for putting up new bulletin boards from time to time at the church building where she and my dad worship. This past Sunday my husband was preaching there (filling in for their regular minister), so I made sure to take my camera along so that I could take a picture of the bulletin board.  I thought it would make a great post to share with you.

The title is "WHAT NOT TO WEAR" and then lists several items that are not becoming for a Christian to wear.  Let's look at each of these traits.

PRIDE:  These six things the LORD hates, Yea, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look...Proverbs 6:16-17

ANGER: We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Proverbs 29:22

SELFISHNESS: We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Romans 15:1

WHINING: Do all things without murmurings and disputings. Philippians 2:14

BAD ATTITUDE: Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Psalm 51:10

If we have any of these items in our Christian wardrobe, we need to get rid of them quickly!