Well, he gave her a dimestore watch
And a ring made from a spoon
Everyone is looking for someone to blame
But you share my bed, you share my name
Well, go ahead and call the cops
You don't meet nice girls in coffee shops
She said baby, I still love you
Sometimes there's nothing left to do
Who am I? Do I really see who I am? Do others around me really see who I am?
Am I the sum of my parts?
Am I the response to my environment?
Am I the sins that imprison me?
Who is Adam?
Peel it back, my fears, my surroundings, my biology, what's left? Me? What does that look like?
I say all this to say that if I truly rid myself of all
Anger
Guilt
Jealousy
Greed
Who remains?
Stubborn is a word everyone would use to define me, remove the anger and the stubbornness is gone.
But I am not my sins.
Perhaps instead of becoming an all new thing I am rather becoming the best part of the person.
As if to say that I would become a slice of steak with the bone and the fat removed.
There are days when there is a lot more fat than meat and on other days there is more meat than fat. But what I aim to be is the choice cut of meat. Boneless, without fat.
Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.
Ephesians 4
The writer says to get rid of ALL... anger... as well as all types of evil behavior. Not to be nearly all meat, not to have a bit of bone but to be completely without.
What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.
James 4
Desires that were once good and harmless turned evil and madly pursued create the quarrels and fights among us...all of the quarrels and fights. It is our desires when gone unmet that birth evil. Our desire to not only control ourselves but our circumstances and those around us. Jealousy creates an evil sort of desire. It can be easily fixed with the Ephesians text about being kind to each other, tenderhearted, rather than allow jealousy the foothold it would replaced with the building up and encouragement of the brother or sister who has that which I want. Compliment them rather than scheme to get it. Always praising God for that which I do have.
I don't have what I want because I don't ask God for it.
God doesn't give it to me because my desire for it is only out of selfish pleasure seeking.
So out of love God denies our desires. It is because God is love, because of his abundant overflowing love that all my prayers are not answered the way I desire.
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor. Don’t speak evil against each other, dear brothers and sisters. If you criticize and judge each other, then you are criticizing and judging God’s law. But your job is to obey the law, not to judge whether it applies to you. God alone, who gave the law, is the Judge. He alone has the power to save or to destroy. So what right do you have to judge your neighbor? Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that. Otherwise you are boasting about your own plans, and all such boasting is evil. Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.
James 4
Anger
Greed
Guilt
Jealousy
All cured by humility. Resist the devil and he will flee from you (James 4:7) Obeying the law rather than criticizing both the law and my brothers and sisters is what we are called to do. Not to compare, not to grow the seed of jealousy but to humbly follow God. My life is like the morning fog. Its here a little while, then...gone. What right do I have to allow my desires to grow and turn evil when not fulfilled? I have none.
Confession
Forgiveness
Generosity
Celebration of others
My body will change, my emotions will change, my knowledge will change, my environment will change, my time will change. Who am I?
I am my heart.
I am my heart, and what sort of heart do I have? Is it locked deep in the darkness of the self imprisoned chains and shackles of anger, guilt, jealousy, and greed? or do I have a heart of freedom? a heart of liberty through confession, forgiveness, generosity, and celebration? Do I love each other because God loved me first? (1 John 4:19) Do I forgive one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven me? (Ephesians 4:32)
I am tired of these chains. I am tired of allowing fear to keep me from freedom. I've had enough of self guilt holding me back from God's presence. Come close to God, and God will come close to you. (James 4:8) I am sick of anger pushing the ones I love away from me when my heart wants them near.
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.
Galatians 5:1
I want to taste that freedom and I will NEVER look back. Never again will I be angry. NEVER again will I be angry. Never again.
God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world. Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.
1 John 4
Never again will I have fear.
Tom Waits - Hold On
And a ring made from a spoon
Everyone is looking for someone to blame
But you share my bed, you share my name
Well, go ahead and call the cops
You don't meet nice girls in coffee shops
She said baby, I still love you
Sometimes there's nothing left to do
Who am I? Do I really see who I am? Do others around me really see who I am?
Am I the sum of my parts?
Am I the response to my environment?
Am I the sins that imprison me?
Who is Adam?
Peel it back, my fears, my surroundings, my biology, what's left? Me? What does that look like?
I say all this to say that if I truly rid myself of all
Anger
Guilt
Jealousy
Greed
Who remains?
Stubborn is a word everyone would use to define me, remove the anger and the stubbornness is gone.
But I am not my sins.
Perhaps instead of becoming an all new thing I am rather becoming the best part of the person.
As if to say that I would become a slice of steak with the bone and the fat removed.
There are days when there is a lot more fat than meat and on other days there is more meat than fat. But what I aim to be is the choice cut of meat. Boneless, without fat.
Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.
Ephesians 4
The writer says to get rid of ALL... anger... as well as all types of evil behavior. Not to be nearly all meat, not to have a bit of bone but to be completely without.
What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.
James 4
Desires that were once good and harmless turned evil and madly pursued create the quarrels and fights among us...all of the quarrels and fights. It is our desires when gone unmet that birth evil. Our desire to not only control ourselves but our circumstances and those around us. Jealousy creates an evil sort of desire. It can be easily fixed with the Ephesians text about being kind to each other, tenderhearted, rather than allow jealousy the foothold it would replaced with the building up and encouragement of the brother or sister who has that which I want. Compliment them rather than scheme to get it. Always praising God for that which I do have.
I don't have what I want because I don't ask God for it.
God doesn't give it to me because my desire for it is only out of selfish pleasure seeking.
So out of love God denies our desires. It is because God is love, because of his abundant overflowing love that all my prayers are not answered the way I desire.
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor. Don’t speak evil against each other, dear brothers and sisters. If you criticize and judge each other, then you are criticizing and judging God’s law. But your job is to obey the law, not to judge whether it applies to you. God alone, who gave the law, is the Judge. He alone has the power to save or to destroy. So what right do you have to judge your neighbor? Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that. Otherwise you are boasting about your own plans, and all such boasting is evil. Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.
James 4
Anger
Greed
Guilt
Jealousy
All cured by humility. Resist the devil and he will flee from you (James 4:7) Obeying the law rather than criticizing both the law and my brothers and sisters is what we are called to do. Not to compare, not to grow the seed of jealousy but to humbly follow God. My life is like the morning fog. Its here a little while, then...gone. What right do I have to allow my desires to grow and turn evil when not fulfilled? I have none.
Confession
Forgiveness
Generosity
Celebration of others
My body will change, my emotions will change, my knowledge will change, my environment will change, my time will change. Who am I?
I am my heart.
I am my heart, and what sort of heart do I have? Is it locked deep in the darkness of the self imprisoned chains and shackles of anger, guilt, jealousy, and greed? or do I have a heart of freedom? a heart of liberty through confession, forgiveness, generosity, and celebration? Do I love each other because God loved me first? (1 John 4:19) Do I forgive one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven me? (Ephesians 4:32)
I am tired of these chains. I am tired of allowing fear to keep me from freedom. I've had enough of self guilt holding me back from God's presence. Come close to God, and God will come close to you. (James 4:8) I am sick of anger pushing the ones I love away from me when my heart wants them near.
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.
Galatians 5:1
I want to taste that freedom and I will NEVER look back. Never again will I be angry. NEVER again will I be angry. Never again.
God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world. Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.
1 John 4
Never again will I have fear.
Tom Waits - Hold On