"Passion Often Overshadows Sanity"
John Miller
11/18/19
- Windstream Mail
R E F L E C T I O N S Thoughts on nature and the Christian faith - 11/18/19 ________________________________________________________________________ "What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?" - James 4:1 |
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As the sun was setting, I watched a buck following four does making their way across the field I was watching. The rut was beginning and this fellow was looking for a receptive female. Suddenly a much smaller buck came on the scene looking for a fight. In the heat of passion this second buck apparently lost his common sense. His passion made him challenge a much larger adversary. The ensuing fight, if you could call it a fight, was over in less than a minute. The smaller buck learned a painful lesson and left immediately. Passion often overshadows sanity. How many things have been done in the heat of passion that would never have occurred when sober judgment was exercised? Age tends to temper some passions, but it never eliminates them. The greatest battles we as Christians have to fight is not overcoming outside influences, but inside ones. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life are all part of our sinful nature and need to be be subdued daily. The battle is always ongoing and a complete victory is never won, but surrender is not an option if we are to wear the name of Christ. What I have found is that the men and women who see their deficiencies clearly and confess their faults openly come closer to being what we are called to be than those who boast of their spirituality or their religiosity. Humility does not mean weakness, it means admitting who we are. God exalts the humble but despises the proud. If we are to boast, let us boast in the Lord. If we are to let passion rule our lives, let it be passion for the one who loves us and gave himself to redeem us. This little buck learned a lesson about misplaced passion. It is a lesson we all need to learn. - John
