There are people who use the “nobody’s perfect” excuse to rebel against God and his expectations of Christians. They say; God knows me, the Bible says don’t judge, so you’re trying to act holier than thou, etc. It is true we will sin and make mistakes, but we must not use that as an excuse or to justify sin. While we are saved by faith alone in Christ, that faith will result in obedience and good works. We must strive to behave everyday like Christ. It is not what we are trying to be but what we are, God says when we are truly saved, we are a new creature. We may fall short at times, I know I do, but there should be growth. I thank God for His instruction book on life; the Bible.
I used to think it was a sin to get angry. So I would say, “nobody’s perfect” (I was one of those folks I was talking about earlier). But in my Christian growth, instead of justifying it as me not being perfect, I wanted to know what the Word said about anger. God did not tell us we couldn’t feel anger, He said we should not vent our anger. The Word says be slow to anger. I have always been slow to anger, but what about when I do get angry?As Christians we do not like to admit we are angry. We might say we are “upset”. Upset and angry have different meanings. When you are upset you are usually sad and tearful, but when you are angry you want to react, even if it’s just with words. The way the world is today with satan running rapid with deceitfulness and his lies, it’s easy to get mad. I get mad when I see injustice, homelessness, hunger, and the mistreatment of children and the elderly. What do you do as a Christian when it’s personal? Someone or something has lit your fire and you are burning up. What do we do as Christians when our “mad” is too big. I used to say, (still do, but not so much) “please don’t make me angry because then I’ll get mad!” The word mad originally meant “crazy” or “insane” in American English, and in the UK it still does, but is commonly used in the phase “mad with rage”. That doesn’t even sound good so you know it’s not of God! Everyone has or will at some point experience anger. Sometimes it is difficult to control your emotions.Through the grace of God, I am learning when I do get angry how to control it instead of it controlling me.
Admitting that we are angry is the first step to dealing with anger the christian way. The second is realizing it is impossible for us to control anger without the power of God at work in our hearts and lives. Thirdly, it must be properly motivated. There are times a person can be angry for appropriate reasons. Religious hypocrisy, injustices of poverty, or oppression is proper, godly reasons to become angry. Jesus experienced anger.When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. They were taken advantage of those less fortunate. He drove them all from the temple area, he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. When Jesus asked the religious leaders if it was okay to heal a person on the Sabbath day, and they would not answer, scripture says, “he looked around at them with anger.” He stilled healed the man while angry which lets us know that we can still do good while angry. Clearly some forms of anger are wrong, and this is the anger that Jesus spoke out against in Matthew 5:22 – angry that you did not get your way, anger that is destructive and unnecessarily demeaning. We should not let our anger turn into bitterness or hold grudges. Never let others anger you to the point where you become someone who you don’t recognize! That is man’s anger; Jesus did not exhibit man’s anger but the righteous indignation of God. When we let our anger control us, we break unity with the body of Christ. I tell you God and his Word is the best anger management class you can take! It will take time, for spiritual growth, like human growth, is gradual. I thank God for not just convicting us of our sins, but for transforming us through the Holy Spirit. I thank him for meeting us where we are but also loving us enough to not leave us there. For myself, when my mad gets too big, I like to say “Jesus fix it”, because I know He can. Please refer to the scriptures in Food for the Soul to see what God has to say about anger. Much Love…
EMMANUEL 