Daily Devotions

Martin Luther King Jr once said, “Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction….The chain reaction of evil — hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars — must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation.”

No wonder the writer the Ephesians urged that church to  “Get rid of all bitterness, passion, and anger. No more shouting or insults, no more hateful feelings of any sort.” Ephesians 4:6

It is said that the disciples of Pythagoras the ancient Ionian Greek philosopher had a rule of their society, that if, during the day, anger had made them speak insultingly to each other, before the sun set they shook hands and kissed each other and were reconciled. There was also a Jewish Rabbi whose prayer it was that he might never go to sleep with any bitter thought against another.

Years ago, a large statue of Christ was erected high in the Andes on the border between Argentina and Chile. Called "Christ of the Andes," the statue symbolises a pledge between the two countries that as long as the statue stands, there will be peace between Chile and Argentina. Shortly after the statue was erected, the Chileans began to protest that they had been slighted -- the statue had its back turned to Chile. Just when tempers were at their highest in Chile, a Chilean newspaperman saved the day. In an editorial that not only satisfied the people but made them laugh, he simply said, "The people of Argentina need more watching over than the Chileans.

Paul's advice is sound, because the longer we postpone mending a quarrel, the less likely we are ever to mend it. If there is trouble between us and anyone else, if there is trouble in a Church or a fellowship or any society where people meet, the only way to deal with it is at once. The longer it is left to flourish, the more bitter it will grow. If we have been in the wrong, we must pray to God to give us grace to admit that it was so; and even if we have been right, we must pray to God to give us the graciousness which will enable us to take the first step to put matters right.

Heavenly Father, forgive me for any bitterness that I have harboured in my heart against You or others. Thank You that I have been forgiven by grace through faith in Christ. Help me to live my life as through you. Help me to be slow to anger, quick to forgive, and abounding in steadfast love, kindness, compassion, forgiveness, and grace. To the glory of Christ, in Whose name I pray, AMEN.