Spiritual Warfare and Sin: Dispositional Sins

Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.—Ephesians 4:31

Dispositional sins are fully as injurious to the Christian cause as the more overt acts of wickedness. These sins are as many as the various facets of human nature. Just so there may be no misunderstanding let us list a few of them: Sensitiveness, irritability, churlishness, faultfinding, peevishness, temper, resentfulness, cruelty, uncharitable attitudes; and of course there are many more. These kill the spirit of the church and slow down any progress which the gospel may be making in the community. Many persons who had been secretly longing to find Christ have been turned away and embittered by manifestations of ugly dispositional flaws in the lives of the very persons who were trying to win them....

Unsaintly saints are the tragedy of Christianity. People of the world usually pass through the circle of disciples to reach Christ, and if they find those disciples severe and sharp-tongued they can hardly be blamed if they sigh and turn away from Him.... The low state of religion in our day is largely due to the lack of public confidence in religious people. Of God and Men, 84-85.

"Oh Lord, may I never be an 'unsaintly saint!' Give me a pleasant disposition today, not that people would be attracted to me, but that through me they may be irresistably drawn to Christ. Amen."