Dear Heavenly Father,
Many of us have underestimated Your commitment to see us become the image of Your Son, Jesus Christ. You have given us Your Word. You’ve given us the indwelling Holy Spirit, and You’ve given us the perfect example of Christ so that we can become the men and women You have called us to be. We may not be committed to see ourselves transform into Your vision, but You are totally committed to Your plan for us. Ephesians 1:11 says that You’ve given us an inheritance through Jesus Christ. It tells us that You chose us in advance. Even before the foundation of the world, You knew us and loved us. When You look at Your children, You see the person we are destined to become in Christ, and whenever we align our actions, thoughts, behaviors, and attitudes with Your vision of us, we are rewarded.
The hearts of many of Your daughters are enthusiastically anticipating marriage. We know that You have given us this most holy union of marriage as a way of blessing Your people and taking care of their needs. In Ephesians 5:25(NLT), You inform us of Your standard for how we should expect to be loved and treated. This verse says, “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it.” This verse shows us, as Your daughters, that You love us very much, and You have commanded that our husbands love us with the same heart of patience, caring, generosity, compassion, and loyalty that comes from You.
Women of God can expect to receive this level of love, but we must also give it. Your expectation is that we will have certain aspects of our walk with Christ on lock, but when it comes to anger and rage, many of us are missing the mark. You tell us in Ephesians 4:26 (NLT) “And “Don’t sin by letting anger control you.” Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry.” This is another of Your standards, and we should never take it lightly. Letting anger control us is a sin.
It is no secret, Dear Father, that some women haven’t been treated well in their past relationships, and they are very angry about it. Often this is a deep-seated anger that they keep hidden very well. They haven’t opened their hearts to the healing that comes from Your love. Instead, they have harbored this anger in their hearts and are prone to outbursts. When deep-seated anger is an issue, we become easily frustrated with situations and people, and we don’t practice patience. We’ve refused to bring our flesh under submission of the Spirit, and we allow our emotions to takeover and rule us.
We must stop and think about the consequences of not being renewed in our minds when it comes to anger and rage. We can’t try to control everything, and we must learn to surrender our lives to You. Help us, Dear Father, to see that a pattern of outbursts of anger and reacting impetuously to situations will deter the blessing of marriage. You do not want Your treasures subjected to this kind of poor treatment any more than You want Your daughters subjected to it. We must get a handle on our emotions. Thank You for helping us to grow and mature in Christ to the point that patience and understanding become our automatic responses, especially when it comes to our spouses and children.
Thank You for the wisdom of Your Word. Please help us to see the error of our ways and to correct them. Please bless single believers everywhere that desire marriage. Please help them to grow in Christ so they are spiritually prepared for a wonderful married life. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen. ■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“Don’t Let Anger Control You”, written by KLizzie, edited by Reverend Fran Mack, for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2021. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.