I sometimes get angry at dumb things, like when my shoe laces get untangled! Most anger is unhelpful to say the least, but anger in rare circumstances can be OK, and it’s named righteous anger. It’s like in John 2 or Mark 3 when Jesus got angry because religious leaders were actively leading people away from true understanding and worship of God. Righteous anger takes the right motives and the right actions–Jesus had both. We experience righteous anger when we see poverty, abuse, or bullying and get angry about it.

Challenge: When you’re mad, check your heart. Check your motivation: are you mad at actual injustice or just because you’re not getting your way? And if it is injustice, what action can you take to stop it while being life giving?

[Originally aired on 5/22/2020]

The post Daily Devo 30 – Angry Motivation first appeared on Gethsemane Church, Tempe.

There was a song in the late 90s that got really popular. I mean, really popular. And the line that sticks out to me is also its title, “I want it that way.” Do you know this song? In Matthew 5, Jesus continues talking about anger and how it’s sometimes a result of how, “I want it that way!” This anger leads us down a really negative trail, but Jesus encourages us to release the anger, to let it go, so we can get back to our real purpose: to be life givers.

Today’s challenge: when you get angry, let it go. Doing this allows us to get back to loving God and loving others.

[Originally aired on 5/20/2020]

The post Daily Devo 29 – I Want It That Way first appeared on Gethsemane Church, Tempe.

Name calling, bullying, anger–it’s sometimes hurtful and absolutely draining to be on the receiving end of these things. And God does NOT want this to be the way we treat each other! In Matthew 5:21-22, Jesus draws a hard line and says that murder and bullying and name-calling are all the same thing, and they’re absolutely wrong behavior. It boils down to this: they’re all life-taking. God calls us to be life giving, not just rule following and definitely not life taking. Yet we all struggle with this. How do you take life from people?

Today’s challenge is to replace life-taking anger with life-giving love. Start with the people closest to you: your family. How can you make life better for your sibling? How can you make life easier for your parent?

[Originally aired on 5/18/2020]

The post Daily Devo 28 – Taking Life first appeared on Gethsemane Church, Tempe.

When I was in 1st grade, I started learning French as a 2nd language. The reason I started learning it so young was that the older I got, the harder it would be. Our brains make neural pathways and roads as we learn and grow that get harder to rewrite the older we get. Sometimes the things that Jesus says are like he’s speaking a foreign language. In Matthew 5:17, he declares that he will fulfill the law. We can look at the word “fulfill” in two ways: first, it means to expand, like filling a balloon with air; second, it means to complete. Jesus was perfect on our behalf so he could win forgiveness for us!

Today’s challenge: look up 1 John 3:1 in a foreign language. Then write it down and keep it as a reminder that even though we may not fully understand it, God’s love for us is still true!

[Originally aired on 5/15/2020]

The post Daily Devo 27 – Fluently Perfect first appeared on Gethsemane Church, Tempe.

In college I did something weird… I tried to become ambidextrous. But I only succeeded in being able to brush my teeth with my left hand, which was strange at first but then became natural. In Matthew 5:20 Jesus seems to tell us that in order to get into heaven, we must be perfect. But what he’s really saying is that’s not the way to heaven! He is the way. He calls us to follow his way of forgiveness. We treat God terribly, but God’s response is strange and unexpected: forgiveness.

Today’s challenge: when you get mad, forgive. Seriously, when you get mad at someone, take a moment (and maybe a deep breath), and see where you can follow God’s example of forgiveness.

[Originally aired on 5/13/2020]

The post Daily Devo 26 – Ambidextrous first appeared on Gethsemane Church, Tempe.