let's talk: reactions

MATTHEW 12:34 "THE MOUTH SPEAKS WHAT THE HEART IS FULL OF."

Before I really got to know Jesus and understood how He wants me to live (and why He wants me to live that way) I always wanted to do things my way. I thought all my feelings and inclinations were reliable. Sometimes I am still guilty of this, but since striving for a heart like Jesus', I've been able to become extremely aware of my actions and, more specifically, my reactions. Our reactions show the posture of our hearts. What we do and say flows from our hearts. Reactions come out before we even think about what we want to say, before we even process what we are feeling. We have more time to process and think about our future actions, but reactions happen in a blink of an eye- often without thought or question.

I would say our reactions are the time our sinful nature slips out easiest... because of our tongues. Our reactions almost always come out of our mouths. James 3 tells us the tongue is "a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts." He goes on to say "It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison." RESTLESS. (No wonder the tongue has the most muscles in the human body!) We are constantly absorbing things throughout the day and constantly reacting to them.

♡ We need to slow down (not everything even requires a reaction!!)

♡ We need to pray

♡ We have to do deep heart- work

Sometimes we think our hearts have good intentions, yet we will not react with those same intentions we claimed we had. This clearly shows us that the enemy and our sinfulness is easily influencing our reactions and that our hearts are not positioned correctly. BUT with a heart towards Jesus, we will be healed and made wiser. Remember, our hearts can be deceitful. We must guard them with the Word of God. We have to feed it the Life and Truth. We have the ability to think before we react and not let our words be corrupted by heat of the moment feelings.

If you feel you are not guarding your heart well and your reactions aren't displaying who Jesus made you to be- approach Him. Remember He said “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." He will provide rest to those restless tongues of ours! His words and character will guide us to control and tame our reactions. He will help us take our thoughts captive and renew our minds from lies and our natural desires to react pridefully, angrily jealously, revengefully.... When we do that heart- work and allow Jesus to transform us, our reactions will start to flow out wiser, slower, and more gently. In essence, we'll become more like Him.

So the next time someone annoys you in class, before you look to your friend to say something, literally ask yourself what Jesus would do. (usually it's the exact opposite of what we want to do in that moment- hope that helps :)!!!)

No but seriouslyyyyyy our hearts were made for love!! And God is love!!!! Our hearts were made for the Creator OF THE UNIVERSE. We can not take this for granted. What a deep and radical blessing it is. Don't let a temporary moment or feeling make you react in a way that goes against our eternal God. This is something I am working on everyday, but I know that we were made for more. We can't let things make us react in a way that doesn't display who our God is.

Pray about it. Go to Him. Do that deep heart- work. He is the only one that can change you. Let Him.