The Act vs The React

During Bible Journal time this week the Lord led me to a passage in 2 Timothy 2. In this passage the Apostle Paul is writing instructions to Timothy. Paul is telling Timothy how to be a good warrior.

22-26 Run away from infantile indulgence. Run after mature righteousness—faith, love, peace—joining those who are in honest and serious prayer before God. Refuse to get involved in inane discussions; they always end up in fights. God’s servant must not be argumentative, but a gentle listener and a teacher who keeps cool, working firmly but patiently with those who refuse to obey. You never know how or when God might sober them up with a change of heart and a turning to the truth, enabling them to escape the Devil’s trap, where they are caught and held captive, forced to run his errands.

In life we will come across many different people, personalities, and situations. We are face to face with many different decisions, and we don't always  handle things in the right manner. I believe Paul hits it on the nail. Instead of running with the gossip or jumping in to the arguments, or judging the people for their actions; Paul is telling us to run after mature righteousness. In Noah's 1828 Dictionary the word Mature is broken down to 

 Mature: Ripe; perfected by time or natural growth. 

Righteousness:  Purity of heart and rectitude of life

That means that we are to seek out continued growth in our walks with God, have a pure heart, faith, love, peace, and be real and serious in our relationship with God. If we stick with this then when it comes time to deal with people when fights arise, then we will know how to act and not how to react. We do not need to be arguing over every silly thing. We need to bite our tongue and listen to the person. We need to keep our flesh in check, and most importantly we need to show the character and love of Jesus Christ to that person. As Paul said "you never know how or when God might sober them up with a change of heart and a turning to the truth."  Right in the moment when steam is coming out of my ears and I am biting on my tongue so hard that it hurts, that's when I have the opportunity with out saying a word to be the example. People are going to be ignorant and they are going to be disobedient, but we don't have to fall into the Devil's trap. We can be slow to speak and slow to get angry (James 1:19). We are that character. We represent who Jesus Christ is. You never know by how you react to how people act, that maybe what changes how they react for the rest of their lives. Be the example of mature righteousness, purity, faith, love, peace, and maturity in Christ.