Signs of Growth. We can rejoice that God is at work in us and that He will continue His work in His children until it is complete at the day of Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:6). Change seems slow and sometimes hopeless. We must trust what God says rather than what we feel or see. Keep our eyes on Him and know that He is at work in us.
Often we look for monumental shifts over short periods of time, but this is not the typical work that God does. Abraham is a great example. God was working in Abraham to teach Him to trust Him. More than thirty years go by while God is doing this work, but when God calls Abraham to sacrifice his son, the Bible talks about Abraham's faith that God would raise his son from the dead (Hebrews 11:19). There is nothing recorded about Abraham seeing God raise people from the dead, but his faith had grown through many ups and downs. God had done a great work. Remember that God is not so concerned with time, but He is all about transformation. Over many years, Abraham became a man of great faith in a great God.
Here are areas of growth to look for over time: 1. We walk away from conflict with plans to address it later when better prepared. 2. Read about and study anger in devotionals like this one. 3. We have asked others to pray for our sin of anger. 4. We have confessed and asked forgiveness from someone that we blew up at. 5. We give persuasive reasons for taking a stand against our anger. 6. We are talking to the Lord honestly and openly about our anger. 7. We can identify idolatrous desires and have openly identified them to someone else. 8. We have a plan to follow when anger is rising within. 9. We thank people. We show humility and dependence upon others rather than seeing ourselves as better than others. 10. We are motivated by the gospel: forgiveness, grace, love, mercy, patience, humility, etc. 11. We have Jesus in view. He leads us to a have zero tolerance for our anger, and empowers us to love others. 12. We feel bad when we give way to our anger and then we act in ways to correct our sinful behavior. 13. We notice the more subtle versions of anger: complaining, defensiveness, and judging. 14. We can identify the opposites of anger in our lives: humility, self-control, patience, love, and trust in God's commitment to justice. 15. We can identify our top sins and we are confident that our sins are forgiven. We are grateful for the mercy and grace we have received and we openly give this mercy and grace to others.
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