Putting to Death Certain Sins

As I have been reading Lou Priolo's book, The Heart of Anger, I have found it extremely valuable in not only helping my children deal with their own anger issues, but with mine as well! Being a Christian is not easy. The Bible does say to take up your cross and follow Me (Christ). I am also reminded of the scripture which speaks of plucking out your eye if it causes you to sin. Literally, he means to do what it takes to put an end to that particular sin that you are struggling with. So often we hear sermons on Sunday's and say, "oh, that was a nice sermon and very well presented" and then we walk away and do not apply it to our OWN lives. But do we really take it to heart. Do we practice what we hear. I mean it is a word from God through the pastor to us. We should be taking the Word of God seriously and that is why I am choosing to read and write about The Heart of Anger. I am sure that many people struggle with anger in some form or another. Pouting, withdrawing, and manipulating are also forms of anger in which many of us do not consider. We want to make ourselves look better than we really are to others. Scripture says that the heart is deceitfully wicked. The Word of God also teaches us that we should examine our hearts to see whether or not we are in the faith. We need to persevere to the end! We need to look to Christ who lived a perfect life, took upon himself our sins and suffered and died for our sins, rose again from the grave, and IS reigning on the throne and interceding on our behalf before the Father. We must not lose hope. We must press on even when the sin in which we are struggling with seems overwhelming and impossible to put to death. Plead with God about it and do everything we can to put it to death!

Lou Priolo writes that it is helpful to keep an anger journal. He lists 4 questions we should answer in our journals.

1. What happened that provoked me to anger?
2. What did I say and or do when I became angry?
3. What does the Bible say about what I said and or did when I became angry?
4. What should I have done/said when I became angry?

I originally bought this book because I have a child who struggles with anger. Now, I see that I do too and need to work on my own problem first before helping my child to deal with their own sin. I am going to start keeping my own anger journal. Will you who struggle with this same sin join me in taking this sin seriously and putting it to death? One more helpful thing to do is to go to Amazon and purchase this book if you have this same struggle or you have a child who struggles with this same sin. The sad thing to say is that in life I have learned that many have had their own children struggle with this same sin and they never knew how to deal with it. Now, while they are still young is the time to take things seriously and teach them how to deal with the sins for which they are struggling so that when they are adults they will be fully equipped in how to put to death certain besetting sins. I only wish that I had known these things before I became a mom! By the grace of God, He has taught me and I am thankful for God's grace in my life!