hold your tongue

Tuesday April 7^th, Acts 10: 39 "We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. Even Paul, the most prolific writer in the New Testament, could not help himself from putting in a little dig against the Jews.  Maybe it was because Paul was a Jew.   Maybe it was because Paul used to be a Jew.  Probably it was because Paul suffered from the unbridled enthusiasm that newly non-smokers suffer from, evangelistic fervor.  Luther also had his evangelistic fervor when the Jews did not flock to this new Protestant understanding and were rejected by Luther, something for which the Lutheran Church has since apologized. We are not so different from Paul and Luther.  It is so tempting to get irritated and put in a dig in our comments, thoughts and prayers against an individual or group whose actions we find frustrating, often a group for which we have a present or former affinity. The new Indiana law legalizing prejudice is an example. Pray today that God would give you the strength to hold your tongue a little bit and when someone frustrates you, remember them as a child of God and pray for them. Little by little, with the help of God, the world will change.  Patience and giving room and time for God to work is a hallmark of maturity.