Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
— Ephesians 4:32
But there is another kind of friction which retards spiritual progress and does real injury to the soul. It is the friction created by inward maladjustment. Our Lord had this in mind when He spoke of the value of the "single eye," and James referred to the same thing when he told of the wavering man of double mind who was unstable in all his ways. While the heart is at cross-purposes with itself, there can be no inward harmony, only discord and carnal heat that slowly wear out the life.
One source of friction is resentfulness. To hold bad feeling against another is to put the brakes on; no matter how sincerely we desire to go on in the holy way, we are held back by the grinding of resentment within us. Morally resentment is static and will brake to a stop any soul that will harbor it. It is vitally important to remove the pressure that is checking forward motion. This we can do by forgiving our enemies and taking pardon and cleansing from the Lord. To name all the possible causes of inward friction would be to list the works of the flesh in their entirety. The flesh warreth against the spirit: that is, it seeks to stop the motions of the growing heart and bring it to a standstill.
Or, failing that, it will put as much pressure as possible on the life and slow its progress as much as it can. The sad thing is that so many of us seem willing to let things go on that way. We "grovel here below," creeping forward painfully and at a snail's pace, when we might be racing unhindered toward the prize. Let's check up on ourselves. Possibly we may need to take the brakes off.
thought
Resentment and unforgiveness can eat away at love and peace. The solution is simple enough. Forgive others as Christ has forgiven you.
prayer
Lord, help me run the race with the brakes off. By your Spirit highlight those areas of life where I am yielding to the flesh rather than to You.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
— Philippians 4:6
Many Christians live like a man driving with his brakes on. It is, of course, friction that retards the car's progress, for all brakes work by friction. The car is temporarily at odds with itself; one surface wants to revolve and another surface in contact with it wants to stand still. This clash of purposes sets up friction; and friction always wins at last. Nothing can continue to move if it is opposed by enough friction. Even the most perfectly operated car cannot escape some resistance to its forward motion.
There will always be gravity, air pressure and the unavoidable pressures of working parts that will tend to slow it down. But these are figured in and overcome by the steady application of energy to the wheels. It's the brakes that give a car a hard time. Now all this would seem to be a parable of some kind. The Christian need not expect to escape opposition. As long as Satan stands to resist the sons of God, as long as the world and the flesh remain, the believing man will meet opposition. Sometimes it will be sharp and obvious, but mostly it will be just the hidden and unsuspected friction set up by circumstances. No one need be anxious about this, however, for God has figured it in and made allowance for it. That kind of friction does little real harm. It will not retard progress much, and the very necessity of overcoming opposition will but add strength to the Christian's moral muscles.
thought
There are circumstances that we feel we can control yet fail to do so. Then there are the circumstances beyond our control. It is that circumstantial friction that slows spiritual progress, causes us to veer off the path or detracts our attention from th
prayer
Forgive me, Father, for falling into anxiety when You invite me to throw all my cares on You.