“He who loves a quarrel loves sin; he who builds a high gate invites destruction.” –Proverbs 17:19 (NIV)

It seems to be a universal fact that little boys are fascinated with bugs. I was no exception to this rule. One day as I was playing outside on a bright summer’s day, I came across an ant colony and a small stick. As I saw the ants hard at work, my inquisitive mind asked what would happen if I placed the stick inside the hole. I grabbed the stick and plunged it down into the ant colony. Nothing happened. It must be noted that my inquisitive mind was also a mischievous one, and I thought it would be a good idea to keep ramming the stick down the hole. To my horror I found a swarm of angry ants, and quite a few with wings, pouring up out from the hole wanting to know who was destroying their home. Terrified I dropped the stick and ran, my lesson duly learnt.

While we may know that it is probably not a good idea to agitate insects, or any other wildlife for that matter, sometimes it seems that this lesson does not apply in our interactions with others. Too often we use our words and actions to provoke others and cause unnecessary arguments. Why do we do this? The answer is found deep in our flawed human nature. Our pride loves opportunities where we can bring glory to ourselves. That is why pride is often what sparks arguments, because in quarrels we have the chance to prove to others that we are somehow superior or better than them. But if such an attitude has taken root in our minds, we will only reap destruction and misery as our stubborn pride tears cherished relationships apart. Our only hope to be spared from such a fate is when we have allowed Christ to be at the centre of our lives. When His Spirit has infiltrated every area of our being and we have submitted ourselves wholly to Him, He will teach us to be humble so that His love may overflow from within us; bringing life to our relationships and healing to the broken.

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

“A friend loves at all times,”- Proverbs 17:17a (NIV)

The beautiful thing about friendship is that it is timeless. Even if close friends have been separated by time and distance, the love and bond between them still remains. God has blessed me with such friendships and my prayer is that I will be a good friend to the ones He has given me. But friendships can often be fragile, and it is tragic when friends part under unpleasant circumstances. When harmful attitudes such as anger, jealousy, or impatience seep into the minds of friends even the most trivial of offences can separate the strongest of bonds. The consequences of allowing these attitudes to infiltrate our minds are painful and as we look back on the memories of broken friendships we are filled with regret wondering if things could have been different if we had simply not taken the steps we took.

All of us are but humans and as such we have been tainted by sin. Due to our fallen state, it is easy for us to give into harmful and destructive attitudes. Sin tells us that we must always glorify ourselves and insist on having our way at all costs. But in reality when we place ourselves before others, we have actually bowed our knee to sin and allowed it to sever our relationship with God and with those we care about. How then can we make sure that sin does not get in the way of our relationships?  The truth is that we can do nothing about it by ourselves, but only by the power of Christ working within us. When we have allowed His Spirit to enter our hearts and seek to conform ourselves to Him in our attitudes and actions, He will carry out his restorative work in our lives. As we turn our face to Him and away from ourselves, He will train us in His love so that His love will overflow from our hearts and into the lives of others. Bearing with one another in love is something that only Christ can help us accomplish and when we choose to abide in Christ, He will order our friendships so that life may abound and hearts be turned to Him.

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

“By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” –John 13:35 (NIV)

Studying church history is quite fascinating. Yet it is also interesting to learn just how many times the church had to overcome factionalism in its history. Even from its early days the church had to deal with discord and schisms which erupted within its ranks on more than one occasion. Some of these disagreements even turned violent, and were in most cases motivated by personal or political reasons. As I read through the annals of church history I sometimes wonder whether I am reading about the same people who have been called by Christ Himself to love one another just as how He has loved us. It is no wonder that the disparity between the example of Christ and the behaviour of His children at times has become a source of confusion for many; prompting us to ask the question why does this happen?

If one thing can be said of the church it is that it has not survived for over two millennia because of the efforts of man. On the contrary it is because of the love of Christ and the grace which He shows to His church that it still stands strong today. The truth of the matter is that every single human being on this Earth is fallen. It is our pride embedded within us which leads us into sin and compels us to become embittered and fight against our fellow man. However, Christ came so that through Him our fallen nature will be cast aside and we will be restored to the people which He intended us to be. To this end He has given us a new nature through His resurrection characterized by His love and righteousness. But because we were slaves to our old nature for so long, we need to allow Christ’s Spirit residing within us to train us in our new nature and perfect His love in us. This means desiring to know Him and to know His heart by spending time reading His Word and being in His presence. Disagreements will happen, but if we choose to not keep in step with the Spirit of Christ, then factions and sin will be the result. It is only when we constantly submit ourselves in humility to Christ and allow Him to work out our His love through us that we are able to love others and maintain unity. The choice is ours. Will we allow sin to taint our witness for Christ, or will we allow Him to use us so that we may be His lights in a world which needs hope?

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

“But I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts.” –John 5:42 (NIV)

What I admire most about the character of Sherlock Holmes is his keen attention to detail and his analytical abilities. Armed with these he is able to expose the truth about a person without fail. Even though others may be thoroughly convinced about the veracity of a person’s account or identity, Holmes will make observations that will reveal all hidden intentions and discover who a person really is and what actually happened. He will be able to pick out things from their appearance, or from their reactions and the way they compose themselves; using these to dispel any falsehood and uncover the truth.  No one can hide for long from Sherlock’s powers of deduction and it is no wonder that he is perhaps the most compelling and celebrated fictional detective in literature.

Yet not even Sherlock could probe into the heart of man like God can. Nothing is hidden before Him and He knows our innermost thoughts. Therefore He knows when we do not have His love in our hearts. We may try to convince others of our compassion and love by our actions and the words that we say. However, if genuine love is absent in our hearts, if instead the slightest bit of hatred and arrogance is present in our lives, then we do not have the love of God for His love purges us of these venomous attitudes. If the love of God has not transformed every fiber of our being, our hatred and pride will eventually surface; rendering our kind words and actions meaningless and hollow. That is why we need Christ. When we have allowed Him to reign in our hearts and seek to keep in tune with His Spirit within us, He will correct our attitudes so that His love may overflow from within us. Walking humbly before Him and allowing his Spirit to carry out His work in our lives, we will know what it means to have the love of God; that love which transforms not only ourselves, but brings life and hope to others.

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

“‘If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying “I repent,” you must forgive them.’” –Luke 17:3-4 (NIV)

Forgiveness is not something which comes naturally for us. The resentments and grudges we hold, and our willingness to hold onto new ones, continues to remind us of this fact. When we have been slighted and hurt by someone else, it is easy to allow anger and bitterness to settle in. We might boast about our abilities to forgive, but we will always be reminded that our forgiveness has limits. The moment we declare an action to be unforgivable we have confessed to ourselves that we are unable to show that unconditional love and grace we are so keen to show off. We may be able to forgive the first time, and perhaps even the second. But our patience soon begins to wear thin, and we deem our offenders not worthy of our mercy.

Why choose forgiveness? When we are faced with injustice we want our enemies to feel retribution, not give them clemency. But if we allow our desire for revenge to fester, it will consume us. We will become prisoners of our anger, and we will soon find that in our thoughts, words, and actions, we will have fallen into sin. As children of Christ we forgive because we do not deserve it ourselves. All of us have sinned and fallen short of God’s holy standards. Yet, in His unfailing love, God sent down His Son, Jesus Christ, so that through Him we may find forgiveness. When we accept this free gift of salvation and allow the Spirit of Christ to cleanse us of our sin, we are able to stand before God not because of anything we have done, but by the grace He has willingly shown us. If He does not withhold forgiveness from us no matter what we do, why should we refrain from doing so as His children? Only through allowing Christ’s Spirit to perfect His love in us will we be able to truly extend the hand of forgiveness; in that finding freedom and life.

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

“Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret–it leads only to evil.” –Psalm 37:8 (NIV)

Anger can be a very destructive force. When our rage is unleashed, anyone and anything can be a target. Controlled by our fury we do things that we regret, and say things we do not mean; inflicting damage both upon ourselves and the relationships we share with others. Sometimes we say that we cannot help ourselves and that our anger is something that cannot be dealt with and changed. But the truth is that anger is like a fire, and a fire grows when it is fed. The more we allow things to feed our anger and irritation, the more our anger will develop into an inferno which will consume all in its path. When our ire has dimmed and we look upon the devastation we have caused, we hang our heads in shame and resolve to not descend into such anger again.

The problem is that we cannot remain true to such a resolution. No matter how hard we may try to search for inner peace and keep a reign on our anger by our own strength, there come moments when we lose all sense of calm and self-control. That is because our sinful nature renders any human attempt to control our rage useless and as long as this dominates in our lives our sinfulness will be expressed in our anger. However, there is hope! Our anger can be dealt with once Christ deals with our sinful nature. When we allow His Spirit to enter our hearts and carry out His redemptive work in our lives, He will cleanse us of our wickedness so that His righteousness may be made manifest in our lives. By surrendering our attitudes to His Spirit, He will douse the flames of our anger so that His love and peace may overflow from within us, bringing life and healing to all who bear witness to the work He is doing within our hearts.

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

“Do you see a man who is hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him.”-Proverbs 29:20 (ESV)

Landmines are dangerous weapons. They are lethal in that they do not discriminate between friend or foe, or combatant or civilian. When an army decides to use landmines in a given area to combat enemy forces, they run the risk of harming innocent lives and even themselves! If a minefield is not properly marked anyone, even the very people who laid these weapons, can be vulnerable to is destructive power. They can sometimes be soldiers unwittingly walking to their deaths, or little children a step away from getting maimed or worse. There are organizations which seek the complete ban on the usage of landmines, and are actively involved in clearing battle-scarred nations of these tools of war so that they may not cause anymore harm.

Our careless words often have the same effect. When we say things without thinking, we are essentially laying mines for both ourselves and others to step on. We make promises we cannot keep, and hurt the people we love and care about. The result is strained and broken relationships which bring us much pain and regret. Though these may not manifest themselves immediately, like a landmine in wait they will explode on us and others when we least expect it. But how can we control our tongues? Trying to keep a filter on our mouths can seem to be an impossible task. However, if we rely on our own efforts to keep reign over what we say, we are guaranteed an uphill struggle. Only when we have allowed Christ to work in our hearts and have adopted His righteousness will our mouths reflect His wisdom, love, and goodness. By permitting His Spirit to help us conform to Christ’s likeness, He will be able to use our tongues to bring life and healing to those around us, and towards His restorative purposes for the world.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.