Ephesians 4:26-27 “But don't let the passion of your emotions lead you to sin! Don't let anger control you or be fuel for revenge, not even for one day. Don't give the slanderous accuser, the devil, an opportunity to manipulate you!” Today's episode talks about how important it is to make sure we have control over our emotions. Our emotions aren't bad, and yet they can cause us to do bad things. We must resist this. This is only possible when we ask the Lord to help us! Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Don't Let The Passion Of Your Emotions Lead You To Sin!
Ephesians 4:26-27 “But don't let the passion of your emotions lead you to sin! Don't let anger control you or be fuel for revenge, not even for one day. Don't give the slanderous accuser, the devil, an opportunity to manipulate you!”
I know we have already talked about anger recently and how even God got angry at times. However, I really liked today’s verse because it is something many of us struggle with. The passion of our emotions can be so strong that it can often lead us to sin. Not just anger, but a lot of our emotions can be strong.
We live in a world that tells us we should follow our passion and that the most important thing is that we are happy. This is not true. Yes, it would be great if we were all happy. God would love for us to be happy, but not in ways that would put our eternal salvation at risk. If you have children or have spent time with them, you know you can not always say yes to them. Children ask many questions, and sometimes, they don’t know what is good for them and what is not.
For instance, they might want to eat cookies every day for breakfast. Occasionally, you might be able to say yes to them, but every day would not be a good idea. They want to stay up late and watch TV every night, and yet you know that they will be tired the next day and be super cranky and unhappy. They probably know this, too, but the passion with which they want to stay up overrides the part of their brain that knows they need sleep. They rely on us to set boundaries so that they aren’t cranky and miserable the next day.
God has done this for us as adults, too. We are not exempt from the passion of our feelings. Our passion can get us into a lot of trouble. This is why when the Israelites were led out of captivity, the Lord gave them the Ten Commandments. They had been living outside their culture for so long that they weren’t living in the way God had asked them to live. He gave them the Ten Commandments so that they would have guidelines. They would have something to think about when their passions told them they should do something.
Even today, our passions can get the best of us. The divorce rate is 42 %, which is actually down. It used to be that 1 in every two marriages would end in divorce. The reason that 75% of the individuals and couples cited for their divorce was lack of commitment. This comes back to passion. If we think that we deserve to be happy above all things and we are not happy in our marriage, then we start to look outside of our marriage for that happiness or that passion. We are always looking for that thing that will fulfill us, that will make us happy, and that will make us excited to get out of bed each day. It can be easy to put that responsibility on our spouse. It can be easy to expect the person we married to fulfill all of our needs and desires. That is not their job.
We all have a place in our hearts that can only be filled by God. He can bring us the joy that we seek and give it to us in all situations. You might not be feeling fulfilled in your marriage or in your job because you haven’t let God into those areas of your life. Have you invited Him in? Have you asked Him to be a part of your life? He is a gentleman and does not go where He is not invited. If you feel you are missing something in your life, in your marriage, or in your job, ask the Lord to come in and show you what you are missing. Ask the Lord to fill that empty space inside of you, or in your marriage or your job. God will always come where He is invited.
There are other ways when the passion of our emotions can lead us to sin. It is not just in marriages. We can also let our emotions control our behavior in all different circumstances. The most prevalent, I think, is probably anger. We have talked about anger before. Anger is not universally good or bad. It has its place and its purpose. Notice this verse doesn’t say don’t feel all your emotions. What it says is don’t let the passion of your emotions cause you to sin. It also goes on to call out anger specifically. It says, “Don't let anger control you or be fuel for revenge, not even for one day.”
I can see how anger can get in your head and make you do or say horrible things. One of my sons is angry most of the time. Anger has a real hold on him right now, and he hates it. When I listen to him talk, I can hear the anger in his voice—not usually at me but at most of the people he interacted with that day. This can happen to all of us to some degree. I know when I get angry, sometimes my voice gets louder, and I find myself yelling. I have worked hard on this, and I have gotten so much better at not letting the passion of my anger take over. Yet, sometimes, I still yell. It is a process and God is not looking for perfection, but he is looking for progress. He does expect us to notice when we need to work on something and then actually work on it.
I invite each of you to pay close attention to the passion of your emotions this week. Are you letting the passion of your anger cause you to sin? Are you letting the passion of your loneliness cause you to sin? How are you doing with your emotions? Are you controlling them, or are they controlling you? If they are controlling you, reach out. I can send you the mentoring sessions where I talked about emotions and how we can get better control over them.
I love the last line of this verse. “Don't give the slanderous accuser, the devil, an opportunity to manipulate you!” I love this because it reminds us that the devil is a slanderous accuser. He will accuse you, and he will accuse others just to get you to sin. He will tell you all sorts of lies about yourself and about others. He will tell you that the person who cut you off in traffic did it on purpose because he thinks you are a loser who will not do anything about it. Just so that you will get mad and do something about it.
It is important to remember the devil wants the opposite of what we want. He is never trying to help us get to heaven. Even if he seems to be saying something that makes sense and doesn’t seem too bad, it is always designed to make us lose eternal life with God. Remember when he was talking to Jesus in the desert, and he was quoting scripture and seemed to be saying things that weren’t too bad? It was scripture, so he wasn’t lying. However, they were half-truths, and he took things out of context. He will do the same for you. He will tell you things that seem true, he will pretend to be nice, he will pretend to be looking out for you. However, if he is leading you to sin, and he is not looking out for you. This is why it is so important to know what the scriptures say. Then, when he says a half-truth, like he did to Jesus, you will know he is lying.
It is important to know that our emotions are not bad. Yet, we can let our emotions get the best of us. When this happens, we may even allow them to lead us to sin. We must stay in control of our emotions and not vice versa. This is impossible if we are doing it on our own. However, with Jesus, all things are possible. Invite the Lord into all the areas you are struggling with and ask Him to help you. Ask Him to help you put Him first. Ask Him to help you control your passion so it doesn’t lead you to sin. Invite Him into your situation, and He will come. He is waiting there for your invitation.
Dear heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, you are amazing, and we love you so much. We invite you into our mess, Lord. We invite you into our emotions. Help us gain control, Lord. Help us to see where the passion of our emotions is leading us to sin and help us gain back control. Help us put a stop to sinning, Lord. You are the almighty one. You are the all-powerful, and we can do all things through you! We love you, Lord, you are amazing! We ask all this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’s holy name, Amen!
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. I will be opening up registration for the retreat soon. If you are not on my mailing list you can sign up below. Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed day and may the grace and favor or our Lord Jesus Christ be upon you!
Today’s Word from the Lord was received in March 2024 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today’s Word from the Lord is, “Life is short, my children. Now is the time to prepare. Don't wait until tomorrow. You do not know if that day will be yours. I tell you again, now is the time to prepare.”