Once we know Jesus,
we are not finished.
We are named
child of God,
held by grace,
given a righteousness
we could never earn.
But still
we are becoming.
James says,
be quick to listen,
slow to speak,
slow to anger.
Not all anger is loud.
Sometimes it is composed,
like the golfer
who never swears,
never throws a club,
but where he spits
the grass does not grow.
Sometimes the cup
is already full
before the next thing comes.
One more headline,
one more fear,
one more offence,
one more push
from a world
that wants us anxious,
angry,
afraid.
But human anger
does not produce
the righteous life
God deserves.
So we come to him
with the overflowing cup
and say,
God,
you have me.
And slowly
he begins to empty it.
He teaches us
to listen first to him,
because if we cannot listen
to his word,
how will we listen
to anyone else?
He shows us
what must be put away,
even the things
we have learned to excuse.
Then James says,
do it.
Do not only hear the word.
Receive it.
Let it take root.
Let it become practice.
Do not look in the mirror,
see the truth,
and walk away unchanged.
Walk into
the law of freedom.
For the Spirit
now lives in us,
and where he lives,
fruit begins to grow:
love,
joy,
peace,
patience,
kindness,
goodness,
faithfulness,
gentleness,
self-control.
Not perfectly,
not all at once,
but truly.
So we ask,
with honesty and hope:
what is driving me?
The anger?
The fear?
The wound?
The need to be right?
Or the one
I call Lord?
Once we know Jesus,
we are not finished.
We are becoming.
Original message by Lou Fortier
The Bridge Church Macquarie Park NSW
3 May 2026
The Afterword 
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