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Weekend Devotion—Are You Envious?
Who is wise and
understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds
done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom that
comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate,
submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness. — James 3:13-18
These verses were part of my devotional reading this past week. When I read it, I immediately thought of how often the unequally yoked tread this ground. We don't mean to, but when we see couples and families worshiping God together at church, we can fall into this trap of envy. Then our envy can turn into ambition as we try to manipulate our unbelieving spouses into going to church with us next time.
James tells us in these verses that seeking wisdom from God will help us reap the best benefits. We can take those feelings and turn them into more constructive actions that will speak louder than anything else to our loved ones. By submitting our envy and and selfishness to God, we can grow into the peace-loving, considerate, fruit bearers of Christ that God intended us to be.
Through God's strength we can become the peacemakers in our family and be visible representations of the righteousness of Christ.
Praying and believing,
Dineen
Amen, beautifully said.
Posted by: Denise | November 08, 2008 at 04:55 AM
Dineen,
This is a wonderful post and the scripture immediately convicted me. I think I am going to print this out and read it every day this week. Love you. Hugs.
Posted by: Lynn | November 08, 2008 at 07:12 AM
What a beautiful post. Blessings to you as you endeavor to be a peacemaker.
Posted by: Debra | November 08, 2008 at 06:18 PM
Awesome post-how true especially for those of us who have walked decades alone. Sometimes it isn't so much the envy but the bitterness and hardness of heart that grips us. Again turning to Jesus is the only answer.
Blessings Dineen-don't know where you find the time to write with everything else going on.
Noreen
Posted by: Noreen | November 09, 2008 at 12:08 PM