We humans enjoy controversy. It's hard to get on TV or noticed on social media unless you say or do something controversial. Even in religion, denominations denounce one another, Protestants protest, and Catholics pontificate. We thrive on the polemics of politics, talk shows, and online editorials.
God calls this attitude "sick" (1 Tm 6:4). Our society's passion for controversy indicates conceit and ignorance (1 Tm 6:4), "in a word, the bickering of men with twisted minds who have lost all sense of truth" (1 Tm 6:5). This sinful attitude results in "envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions" (1 Tm 6:4). God tells us to "flee from all this. Instead, seek after integrity, piety, faith, love, steadfastness, and a gentle spirit" (1 Tm 6:11).
"Keep reminding people of these things and charge them before God to stop disputing about mere words. This does no good and can be the ruin of those who listen" (2 Tm 2:14). "Never act out of rivalry or conceit; rather, let all parties think humbly of others as superior to themselves" (Phil 2:3).
| PRAYER: | Jesus, deliver and heal me from the sickness of enjoying controversy. |
| PROMISE: | "In no way can a man redeem himself, or pay his own ransom to God." –Ps 49:8 |
| PRAISE: | Angela exchanged her career in secular media to work for Catholic media. |
Reprinted with permission from Presentation Ministries, a lay association of the Catholic Church that focuses on evangelization and discipleship through Bible teaching, daily Mass, the charisms of the Holy Spirit, and Small Christian Community. Their ministries include:
· One Bread, One Body
· Daily Bread Radio Program
· Annual Bible Institute
· Discipleship Retreats
· Guadalupe Bible College