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PROGRAM D-7334
Reactions are not often carefully thought through, and can be the wrong move altogether.
Now, how can we learn to respond instead of react? Well, you can’t learn it on the spur of the moment; it has to be built into your character and into your mind. The more you get into God’s Word, the more you spend time with the Lord each day in fellowship and prayer, the more prepared you will be to respond. You have to build in those spiritual muscles so that they are there for you when you need them.
In my message on “The Well Dressed Christian,” which is based on Colossians 3, we are told to put on the fruits of the Spirit. I encourage you to practice that daily; to mentally dress the inner person with gentleness, kindness, joy, love, thankfulness, patience, tolerance, and peace. In fact, I’ve written a Bible study on this topic, to show you some practical ways to make this an everyday reality in your life. I believe if each of us consciously dressed that inner person each day before we left home, we’d be far better prepared to respond rather than react.
I tell you, it’s something I still practice on a regular basis. I pray on those inner garments in the morning, and it helps me remember all day long to allow the Holy Spirit to control my reactions and responses. I encourage you to use it for yourself.
And then we need to learn to practice those quick emergency prayers throughout our day. When you feel your reaction level starting to rise, when you sense your emotions are starting to take over, when you know that you’re not exactly in control of your reactions, send up a quick prayer. “Lord, please help me here. This is a tough one for me. I want to respond rather than react, but I need your help.”
You’ve heard the commercial that says, “Don’t leave home without it.” Well, if we could remember each day not to leave home without being mentally and spiritually prepared to face the day in the power of God’s Spirit, then we’d see how our reactions would start to give place to appropriate responses.
