"I hate what I've become
The nightmare's just begun
I must confess that I feel like a monster"~Skillet, "Monster"
Today is Halloween, a day when ghosts, goblins, and monsters come out of the shadows and freely roam the Earth. Well, sort of. The origins of the holiday as we know it stemmed from that belief, but in reality, it's more of a day to dress up and have fun. However, there is a type of monster that we need to watch out for, one that, unfortunately, can show up at any time and in any place: the monster that lives within our own hearts.
In some people, this monstrous version of themselves is quite obvious. Just in the last week, those of us in America heard about at least two of them: one who sent bombs to politicians and one who murdered 11 people as they worshiped in a synagogue. Those were just the ones who made the national news. In big cities, there are even more of these monstrous people wandering about. Where I live, I hear about at least one local monster every week.
Even those of us who aren't total monsters can have some monstrous tendencies. We inwardly curse a maniac driver, we're short tempered with our loved ones, we insist on having our own way. Even when we're not being monstrous to others, we can be monstrous to ourselves. We tell ourselves things that we would never even dream of saying to others and would never allow others to say to us. As much as we may hate this side of ourselves, we can't seem to escape it. We may fight back for a while, but we eventually fall prey to it's tantalizing grasp once more.
Is this our fate? Are we doomed to eventually be taken over by the monster within? Yes, if we continue to fight it on our own. The good news is, we don't have to.
As followers of Christ, we have an Advocate who is willing and able to help us at our weakest times. Hebrews 4:15 states, "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin." Jesus got angry, but he did it without sinning. Perhaps the most famous example of this is the cleansing of the temple, which is one of the few stories recorded almost the same way in all four Gospels (Matthew 21:12-13, Mark 11:15-17, Luke 19:45-46, John 2:13-16). So getting angry is not a sin, the sin comes in what we do with it.
The monster within us craves control, and the only way to defeat it is to surrender to the One who is able to keep it in control. Knowing Christ's record with his anger is proof that we can trust Him with ours. I'm not saying it will be easy, but it can be done. We just have to make the choice to let Jesus take control and stop that monster.
The nightmare's just begun
I must confess that I feel like a monster"~Skillet, "Monster"
Today is Halloween, a day when ghosts, goblins, and monsters come out of the shadows and freely roam the Earth. Well, sort of. The origins of the holiday as we know it stemmed from that belief, but in reality, it's more of a day to dress up and have fun. However, there is a type of monster that we need to watch out for, one that, unfortunately, can show up at any time and in any place: the monster that lives within our own hearts.
In some people, this monstrous version of themselves is quite obvious. Just in the last week, those of us in America heard about at least two of them: one who sent bombs to politicians and one who murdered 11 people as they worshiped in a synagogue. Those were just the ones who made the national news. In big cities, there are even more of these monstrous people wandering about. Where I live, I hear about at least one local monster every week.
Even those of us who aren't total monsters can have some monstrous tendencies. We inwardly curse a maniac driver, we're short tempered with our loved ones, we insist on having our own way. Even when we're not being monstrous to others, we can be monstrous to ourselves. We tell ourselves things that we would never even dream of saying to others and would never allow others to say to us. As much as we may hate this side of ourselves, we can't seem to escape it. We may fight back for a while, but we eventually fall prey to it's tantalizing grasp once more.
Is this our fate? Are we doomed to eventually be taken over by the monster within? Yes, if we continue to fight it on our own. The good news is, we don't have to.
As followers of Christ, we have an Advocate who is willing and able to help us at our weakest times. Hebrews 4:15 states, "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin." Jesus got angry, but he did it without sinning. Perhaps the most famous example of this is the cleansing of the temple, which is one of the few stories recorded almost the same way in all four Gospels (Matthew 21:12-13, Mark 11:15-17, Luke 19:45-46, John 2:13-16). So getting angry is not a sin, the sin comes in what we do with it.
The monster within us craves control, and the only way to defeat it is to surrender to the One who is able to keep it in control. Knowing Christ's record with his anger is proof that we can trust Him with ours. I'm not saying it will be easy, but it can be done. We just have to make the choice to let Jesus take control and stop that monster.
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