But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. (James 3:14)
WHAT IS INSIDE YOU ultimately comes out. One of the biggest animated blockbusters of all time was the Pixar movie Inside Out. The film creatively explored the range of emotions within each of us. The characters were interesting, the movie entertaining, and the concept worth contemplating for people of faith. Within each of us there is a range of emotions that are ultimately to be informed and transformed by the work of the Holy Spirit, who also resides inside of us. Each and every day we are faced with opportunities to share what is inside of us, whether we are intentional about the results or not.
With this in mind, James 3:14 sits us squarely in front of a mirror that also acts as a magnifying glass. As each one of us looks within our heart and our emotions, we must explore what we find there. Is there a bitter envy over what others have that you have yet to receive? Are your motives driven by selfish ambition and gain? The human heart can generate the wrong way of thinking, yet the Holy Spirit can lead us forward with an inside-out faith. The starting point for inside-out faith is to not deny the truth about what you find as you look within, but to bring it to Jesus in faith that His love can transform you.
Accept the truth about your heart condition and let Jesus transform it.
Brian D. Bennett is the pastor of Overflow Church and lives in Benton Harbor with his wife and three children. He is the author of Go Now and Be the Church.
© 2018 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission.
