Resentment kills a fool. Job. 5:2
Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Phil. 4:5
Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Eph. 4:31
Heavenly Father, as your Gospel-cherished, Spirit-indwelt children, these Scriptures grab our attention, like flashing LED lights on a foggy night. We’re immersed in a culture of unhinged reactions, unfiltered resentments, and unfettered spite.
It grieves your heart, and it should sadden us as well. We’re to be different, and offer a better way. We’re not to mirror our culture, but offer a redemptive presence in it. You’ve called us to be salt and light; not Jalapeño sauce, Roman candles, fragile egg shells, or sensitive land mines.
Father, grant us wisdom, strength and plenty of grace. May the fire in our bones be the purifying fire of your Spirit, compelling us to make much of Jesus, less of ourselves, and more of our neighbors.
Help us uproot every root of resentment, bitterness, and spite, growing in the garden of our own hearts. Supersize our gentleness, Father. In these coming weeks, write stories of redemption through us, with the ink of the Gospel and the hope of heaven. So very Amen we pray, in Jesus’ tender and triumphant name.