The Wrath of Man
The other day I was, once again, cleaning out the girls? overpopulation of neglected toys. As I was tediously separating what to throw away from what to keep, I came upon the ?beloved birdie.? This birdie belongs to Maylee?s (1 year) favorite puzzle and has been lost for a long time. Everytime we work the puzzle she points to the empty space and, with a concerned look exclaims, ?lost?.
As I continued to sift after my joyful discovery, a verse was resonating in my mind. ?for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.?~James 1:20 Another translation says ?a man?s anger does not produce the righteous life that God desires.?
I was thinking on this verse because I recognize how quick I am to get angry with mom. Since I know that my anger does not and will not ever bring me to the place where God wants me to be, I must seek diligently how I might kill it?not her! I was also considering how quickly other Christians have been to sift me out of their lives due to anger and was saddened by both my tendency to fail in this area and the pain of their grudge.
Mom?s constant questions, comments and actions (whether they be right or wrong) are not the cause of my anger; my own sin is. Other people and their sin and injury against us are never the problem. We can try ( and even possibly succeed!) and remove one person after another from our lives and it will never cure the sin we?ve allowed to dwell in our hearts. (In fact, just the opposite will happen because the very person the Lord gave us to teach patience will be ignored and cast away by our own rebellion to His perfect ways.) A new irritant will come right along after the last and produce the same product of unrighteousness from us.
It?s easy to fall into a worldly way of thinking that tells us, ?If I could just remove this trial from my life, I?d be able to do right. If I just didn?t have these problems it would be easy to be godly. I don?t really have to love people sacrificially and genuinely, I can love them ?from a distance??etc. etc.?
The flesh always wants to become a victim, deny responsibility and shift blame to anyone and anything besides ourselves that is doing wrong. The truth is that others will always do wrong to us just as well as we will to them but we can never blame others or what they do to us for our own lack of righteousness or the presence of sin. A righteous person can love wholly and genuinely their fiercest enemies and seek their good as they are seeking even our very death. Consider Stephen:
And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, ?Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.? 60 Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, ?Lord, do not charge them with this sin.? And when he had said this, he fell asleep.~Acts 7:59-60
Other people and problems are not what needs sifted out of our lives; sin is.
So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; 20 for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
21 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. ~James 1:19-21
Verse 21 says ?lay aside?. Just as I was ?laying aside? garbage and useless toys, we are to lay aside and separate all those things which contend with righteousness in my life. As I?m faithful to do so, just like I found the beloved birdie, the missing piece to the puzzle, we, too will gain the wisdom and blessing of a righteous life. If I refuse, every time I try to work out the puzzle of my life, the area where I rebel will leave those around me with a concerned look on their faces pointing and saying, ?lost.?
The passage says, ?receive?the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.? This is the gem! The birdie! It can only be found
when we lay aside the trash. If the weeds aren?t removed the plant cannot grow; let us make sure we are removing the wrong things and keeping the right ones.
Here is a closer look at the context of James 1:
My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. ~James 1:2-3
You have trials? You are blessed! Take comfort! Be encouraged! You are gaining something many others lack ?patience.
But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. ~James 1:4
Be patient with patience! Matthew Henry says this: ?The trying of one grace produces another; and the more the suffering graces of a Christian are exercised the stronger they grow. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance;~Romans 5:3?
So, yeah, God, I want to consider my trials a joy and I want to be patient while I?m learning patience but I lack wisdom. I fail repeatedly. How do I stop this cycle of sin and guilt?
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. ~James 1:5
I have to stop and pray. Constantly. We are making a craft at ?school?. It?s a stop sign. On the front it?s red and it says, ?Stop and pray? and on the back it is green and says, ?Go in Faith?. Needless to say it?s not simply for the benefit of my children.
Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.~James 1:12
I must never doubt that when I endure in faith and obedience, I will be blessed and I will obtain the victory of all victories in the life to come. That is the gem, not a trial free life void of personal injury here on earth.
Let no one say when he is tempted, ?I am tempted by God?; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. 14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.~James 1:13-16
Let me not shift blame. Let me always recognize it is my own failure and sin that leads me away from righteousness. Why does the scripture say, temptation is not from God? Don?t we already know that? It?s because, in blaming others, we are, at the root, blaming God. He is sovereignly in control of all things and all situations in our lives. If we blame others, we blame him. If we try to remove people he places in our lives, we try to remove Him. This is the original excuse for sin. God calls Adam to give an account; Adam blames Eve and, ultimately God, saying, ?The woman you put here with me?she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.? ~Genesus 3:12 When it all breaks down the blame inevitable falls on God. What does James say, though? ?Do not be deceived?? It isn?t God?s fault. It isn?t my mom?s fault. It isn?t my co-workers fault or my husband?s fault or my enemies fault. Sin is my fault. Let me treat it as such.
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.~James 1:17
Trials are a gift. They produce fruit in those whom He has elected to righteousness. Without trials we would not be refined and purified. Thank God for the bread of adversity and the water of affliction.
Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.
19 So then,my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; 20 for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.~James 1:18-20
It was God?s idea to give us eternal life and righteousness. ?Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth?? And for that reason ??so then??, we are to act righteously. Anger and arguments only hinder and slow our growth. Since producing the fruit of the Spirit in order to glorify God is the only purpose and goal of a Chrisitan life, we must get rid of the things that do not produce them and keep the things that do.
But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth.~Colossians 3:8