Read Renewing Your Mind (Victory Series Book #4): Become More Like Christ for Free Online Page B

Because of Saul’s rebellion and disobedience, the Lord had rejected Saul as king of Israel and told Samuel to anoint David as king. There is no evidence that Saul ever repented of his sin or forgave David for upstaging him. At the heart of an angry person is a bitter spirit, and such unresolved anger gives the devil an opportunity. After venting his anger toward David, “The next day an evil spirit from God came forcefully on Saul” (1 Samuel 18:10). The same could happen to us if we do not forgive from our heart.
    Paul advises us, “‘In your anger do not sin’: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold” (Ephesians 4:26–27). Our spiritual and mental health depends on how well we learn to handle our emotions. It is not a sin to be angry, but in our anger we mustnot sin. If we wish not to sin, then we should be angry the way Christ was: We should be angry at sin.
    How do we hurt ourselves when we suppress our emotions? How does that affect our communication with others, since most communication is nonverbal?
      
    How can we hurt others if we indiscriminately express our feelings?
        
    What was the root of Saul’s anger?
        
    How did your parents express themselves emotionally? How has that affected you?
      
    How does your ability to be emotionally honest reflect your security in Christ?
        

    The devil can do nothing to us unless we ourselves willingly allow him to do so. This is true in all our acts. Thus we are masters of our own will; otherwise we would deserve no good return for our good acts, and no punishment for our bad acts. The devil’s opporunity arises from our own vice.
    Gaius Marius Victorinus (c. fourth century AD)

2
A Humble Walk With God
    Micah 6:6–8
    Key Point
    No God-given goal for your life can be blocked, uncertain, or impossible.
    Key Verse
    Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you.
    1 Thessalonians 4:11
    T he process of walking by faith can be illustrated by the game of golf. Suppose a five-year-old child hits the ball 75 yards but is 15 degrees off the center of the fairway. Because of the short distance, the ball will probably land in the fairway. When the child is 12 years old, he hits the ball 200 yards but again is 15 degrees off. Now the ball is probably in the rough. When the child becomes an adult and hits the ball 300 yards, a 15-degree error could land the ball out of bounds.
    If what we believe is 15 degrees off from the Word of God, there may not be many negative consequences when we are young. However, there will be consequences if we continue on that course through midlife. We end up playing out of the rough or being penalized for being out of bounds. The midlife crisis is a plan led astray. There are near and far consequences for everything we have chosen to believe. As our culture drifts further away from its Judeo-Christian roots, the consequences of what our young people believe are showing up before they reach adulthood.
    We don’t have to wait until life falls apart to find out whether or not our walk is true. Our emotional response to what we think and believe reveals whether we are on the right path. Remember that our emotions are predominantly a product of our thought life. Consciously or subconsciously, we have certain ideas or goals in our minds for how we should live and what must happen in order for us to be happy, satisfied, and successful. Often, our sense of worth is tied to those goals.
    If you found out your supervisor was blocking your goal of being promoted, you would probably feel angry. If the promotion was uncertain, you would probably feel anxious every time you thought about it. If you thought your goal for a promotion was impossible, you would likely feel depressed.
    We will be on an emotional roller coaster if we believe our identity and sense of worth are dependent on other people and life’s