But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. (James 3:14)
Expanded Passage: James 3:14-15
What is inside you ultimately comes out. One of the biggest animated blockbusters of all time was the recent movie Inside Out. The movie creatively explored the range of emotions within each of us. The characters were interesting, the movie entertaining, and the concept worth contemplating as 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. Every day, we are faced with opportunities to share what is inside of us, whether we are intentional about the results or not.
James 3:14 sits us squarely in front of a mirror that acts more like a magnifying glass. As we look within our hearts at our emotions, we must explore what we find there. Is there 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 within each of us, and 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 instead bring it to Jesus in faith that his love can transform you.
Acknowledge what you find inside—and what Jesus can do with it.
Brian D. Bennett is an ordained minister in The Wesleyan Church and currently serves as lead pastor in Vero Beach, Florida. He has published with Wesleyan Publishing House.
© 2024 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
