Ephesians 4:30-32, “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.”
I heard a beautiful MP3 sermon today by Pastor Jack Hyles, called, “You
Can Choose Your Own Temperament ” (beautiful MP3 sermon by Dr. Jack
Hyles, 1926-2001). Please listen to the sermon, which is what I'm listening
to while writing this article. What a great truth! We can all CHOOSE to do
right! No one has good character; but rather, we CHOOSE to use good
character. No one one naturally loving; but rather, we choose to be loving.
No one is more prone to hatred than others; but rather, we choose to be
hateful or not hateful. We choose our temperament!!!
God never commands us to do anything without giving us the wherewithal to obey. When God says to love one another, that means we can. When God says to be content with what you have, that means we can. When God says to be kind to one another, that means we can. When God says to rejoice evermore, that means we can. If you decide to love, YOU CAN! We can all be patient, because God tells us to. It is a choice. Happiness is a choice! God commands us to be happy, just as much as He commands us not to commit adultery or commit murder. God commands us to be kind. If we are not kind, we are breaking God's commandments!
Love is a choice!!! If you are
unloving, it is because you have chosen not to love. If you are mean, it is
because you have chosen not to be kind. If you are miserable, it is because you
have chosen not to be happy in the Lord. Love is a decision caused by the will.
We decide who and when to love someone. Love is a decision made by the will, and
not a response made (caused) by the senses.
God Gives Us Gifts and Commands Us to Use Those Gifts
These are the FRUIT of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:19-21). Joy is a gift that God gives to us. Love is a gift that God has given to every believer. Love and patience are gifts, as is peace and gentleness. These are the fruit of the indwelling Holy Spirit. So also is goodness a gift from God. Our shallow and selfish society today defines love as feeling attracted to someone handsome or pretty. That is not true love. God commands us to love everyone; therefore, we can choose to love anyone!
Joy is a decision, not a response caused by the senses or feelings. Anyone can choose to be happy in the Lord. God doesn't give more joy to some of His children than others. No one gets more or less of the fruit of the Spirit when they get saved. The difference is that the Holy Spirit doesn't get the same amount of us. Some people CHOOSE to be more loving than others. Job didn't have more patience than others; but rather, Job chose to use the patience he had. The difference between a lovable and non-lovable person is that one person chooses to be lovable and the other doesn't. All of us are crabs by nature. All of us hate by nature. All of us are sinners by nature. But God has given to us the gift of the Holy Spirit, which is a NEW NATURE.
This eliminates many false concepts; such as, “She's such a loving person.” No, she chooses to love more than others. “He's such a generous man!” No, he chooses to be generous. It is not the POSSESSING of the fruit of the Holy Spirit that makes us different, it is the USING, and the using is done by the CHOOSING! Boy that is great stuff!!!
Since God commands us to use the fruit that He has given to us, that means we by nature DON'T obey them, otherwise God wouldn't have to command us to do them! God has to command us to tell the truth, because by nature we are lying sinners! WE WILL TO DO RIGHT!!! Impatient people choose not to have patience. Christians without character have chosen not to have character.
You can decide to be happy or not. I don't know what you're going to choose, but I'm going to choose to be loving. I want to obey my Savior! I choose to be happy. I choose to love everyone at all times. I choose to forgive everyone. I choose to care about everyone. AND SO CAN YOU if your are a born-again Christian. We should all choose to choose to have love, faith, patience, care, gentleness and goodness all the time!!! Amen!
By nature were all hot-tempered and prone to anger. But God commands us to be loving, cheerful, kind and sweet. If you are hot-tempered, you are living in direct disobedience to God's Word. No one is prone to more anger than others; but rather, some people choose not to overcome it! John 4:4, “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.” He who came in is full of love! Jesus Christ lives in the breast of every born-again believer. And He who came into to live when we got saved is loving, kind, sweet, generous, patience, good, merciful, tenderhearted, joyous, peaceful and has temperance. WE CAN CHOOSE TO BE WHAT WE WANT TO BE!!!
Hard work is a choice, we decide to do it. Loyalty is a choice, we decide to do it. We choose to be sweet and kind. We choose to care and go the extra mile. Happiness is a choice! I don't know about you, but life is too short to live with a burden of hatred. Life is too short to live with bitterness. I choose to let go, and let God. I choose to let all the hurt, pain and suffering go into the dear hands of my omnipotent Savior, in whose hands my very breathe comes. The Bible says our life as believers is hidden in Jesus Christ. Colossians 3:1-4, “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.”
And finally, if you have never received Christ as your Savior, you can choose to get saved or go to Hell. Without the indwelling Holy Spirit, you don't have the new nature, and you absolutely cannot abide in the Spirit since you don't have Him.
“Nothing
in my future can ever affect the salvation that I have... Once you trust
the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, you are eternally secure!”
—Pastor Hank Lindstrom (1940-2008), a quote from the classic MP3 sermon
titled, “
