Everything in Me...Except the Holy Spirit

We've all been there. It felt personal. Overlooking someone's offensive behavior seemed a bridge too far this time. Our nervous system buzzed with angry energy and everything in us wanted to lash out in an angry reaction...everything except the Holy Spirit.

1. How It Began

   
   

Maybe it started as a personal attack; you felt the offender was being completely unreasonable, and you begin to open your mouth to let out a tirade of words that would only hurt your testimony and aggravate the situation. Maybe it was a social media comment that stirred up an already residing frustration in you and now you find yourself typing out an ill-advised comment. To say or not to say? To send or not to send? Your finger hovers over the send button. What will the consequences be of sending this message? "Does it even matter?! I just need to let it out!" A generally good rule of thumb is that if you feel that you must say something or you might burst, that's the absolute best time to hold your tongue. Are there exceptions to that rule? Sure, but you know what I'm talking about. You're thinking to yourself, "Someone has to say it! Someone has to put them in their place!" Was it worth it? Did it satiate your need and resolve the problem? If we are honest with ourselves, while we may have gotten a little temporary satisfaction from our outburst, we probably only fueled the flames of contention.

If you have scrolled Facebook for more than ten seconds, then you have probably seen someone's angry rant about something. Half of the time, who they are mad at or what the actual problem was remains undecipherable. Christian, social media is not meant to be our innermost journal of unfiltered thoughts. It is an open marketplace where we have a reputation and testimony, and a place where we get to choose how we will present ourselves and how we will relate to one another. In a passage dealing with our communication, James says in James 3:10, "Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be." It grieves me to see other Christians rant angrily, take the Lord's name in vain, or use vulgar language to get across the emotion they are feeling at that moment only to quote Bible verses and invite people to their church just twenty-four hours later. It reveals a lack of spiritual stability in our personal walk with God. I am not immune to this. I have found myself erasing several typed comments lately. I have been doing battle with my own spirit. As I was driving recently, I thought to myself these exact words, "Everything in me wants to give them a piece of my mind...except the Holy Spirit."

2. Listen to the Right Spirit

   
   

That last part, that right there was the Holy Spirit convicting me of a wrong attitude. If you are a Christian, then the Holy Spirit of God resides in you. He definitely has an opinion on the matter, and He wants to reveal it to you, but He speaks quietly. Often He speaks through the Bible. Sometimes He speaks through the wisdom of other people, and sometimes it's that "still small voice." In Psalm 141:3, David pleads with the Lord to, "Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips." David didn't trust himself to guard his own words, but instead looked to God for wisdom in those times when emotions ran high. Listen to what he said in Psalm 39:1, "I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me." Why would he take such great pains to control his tongue even in front of evil men? He answers that question in verse 8, "make me not the reproach of the foolish." David knew that the quality of his testimony was of more value than the feeling of proving himself right in a disagreement. He knew that shutting down his opponent at the cost of his godly reputation would not only grieve God, but would damage his ability to lead that person or someone else to reconciliation with God one day.

Paul writes to the church at Ephesus in chapter four about being "renewed in the spirit of your mind" and about putting "on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." But how do I apply that? There are difficult people in this world! Sometimes, I am one of them. How do I want other Christians to respond to me? The Holy Spirit through Paul foresaw that question and answered it, "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." (Eph. 4:29-32)

3. How It Ends

Is it a magic pill? Does listening to the Holy Spirit automatically diffuse every situation and cause it to end the way we want it to? No, but there is a far greater opportunity for future reconciliation if we have chosen to be Christ-like rather than letting our own spirit lead us into further confrontation. Back in Psalm 39, David held his peace, and it discouraged him. Read the chapter. Look and see what conclusion David comes to. It may be sometimes that the only thing trampled on was our pride. It's hard to not try to have the last word and just swallow our pride quietly. However, there is a cause! We are to be witnesses for Christ! Each and every interaction that we have with or in front of a lost person may be the last step between them hardening their heart against God or softening to the conviction of the Holy Spirit and choosing faith in Jesus Christ. Paul reminds the church at Colosse to pray for him "That I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak. Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time. Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man." (Col. 4:4-6)

Also, each interaction we have at home, work, or church is being watched by someone. My kids are watching my every move (especially if I'm trying to sneak some ice cream out of the freezer). They are learning from me how to respond to situations in their own life. Fellow Christians are watching us respond. What kind of lessons are we teaching them? It's sobering, especially when I think of how little time I actually have to train my kids.

To help us all walk away from this in the right mindset, let me leave you with this passage:

Matthew 5:43-48, "Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."