Dear sister,
AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! I was SOOO angry!!! I am a red-headed Irish blooded creature that is prone to anger…plus I was provoked…and hungry and tired. I got over it quickly, it’s in my nature to simply explode and go, so it’s no big deal. It’s not like I let the sun go down on my anger. I have every excuse in my own written book to explain away anger. Don’t you? After all, the Lord made us emotional beings to feel things…so anger is ok, right?
Well, kind of. The Lord did give us anger as an emotion and sign of something going on in our hearts. Righteous (or right) anger is a passionate response to evil and things that oppose God’s glory and the real good of mankind. It is right to be passionate about the death of children, war, murder, disobedience, and people being taken advantage of. Jesus was angry at His Father’s house being made into a Wal-Mart. He was angry when death took his friend Lazarus too early. He was angry at the sin of the religious people of the day who thought looking righteous made them righteous. I have to admit, my anger is usually not this kind of anger. It has a totally different focus.
My anger comes when I’m not getting what I want or think I deserve. I get angry when my husband is not doing the housework my way, when my little girl is not obeying in the right way, right away, with the right attitude. Or she freaks out at the playground and grocery store. I get angry when I’m late and when I am inconvenienced. Pretty much, when people are not fulfilling my desires, I flare up. Yes, I have a passionate emotional response for sure, but as you can see, my passion is directed at ME and MY desires and not for the Lord’s glory and others good. Man, is that ugly!
Richard Baxter writes that anger is without reason and against reason. It’s a temporary madness and drunk like state. I’ve been there, have you? As believers, our passionate hearts should be reigned in by the Holy Spirit, not let loose like the Tasmanian Devil! The Lord promised that He will never give us more than we can bear and He also says there is a way out of every temptation (1 Cor. 10:13). One of the best ways to avoid sinful anger, is to avoid sinful anger. Walk away, take a deep breath, eat something, take a nap, or go to another room. Pray for the Lord to give you self-control and patience. If you are prone to sinful anger, have a friend keep you accountable.
We don’t just want our behavior to change, we first desire our hearts to change. Seek repentance of your sinful anger, ask for forgiveness from the Lord and the one you’ve sinned against. Oh sweet sister, Christ died for our sinful anger. He rose again to give us freedom from the curse of sinful anger! There is hope for life away from sinful anger! It’s in Christ! We need to seek His glory, not our own! We need to want His desires, not our own! As our hearts turn to Christ, our anger will morph into Godly anger, to uphold His glory and be passionate about others good, not our own. Dear sister, what is your passion toward? Yourself or the things of the Lord?
Your sister in Christ,
Colleen