| On Guard Sept. 2, 2009 |
one another. 26 “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, 27 nor give place to the devil. 28 Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. 29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. 32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. The commands given to us in this scripture are not easy ones. In fact, they sometimes feel impossible. But that is because our flesh and our spirit are always at war. It's sort of like a fencing championship. When we are faced with the choice of lying or telling the truth, the spirit says, "Tell the truth!" Then the flesh says, "No, don't do that! It's better for us if we lie." But the spirit can't let us lie, because if we lie then we would grieve the Holy Spirit. So it does the only thing that it can do. It decides to fight. So the spirit yells, "On guard!" And the match begins. Now sometimes our spirit wins and sometimes it loses based upon which one is stronger at the time, the spirit or the flesh. So it is up to us to keep our spirit strong and in shape so that when it has to defend us against the temptations of the flesh, it will be able to do so successfully. I hope you enjoyed reading the word of God in a new light. Have a Happy Wednesday! God Bless, Elder Tommy and Sister Shatika Gray |