Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil
speaking be put away from you, with all malice.
Ephesians 4:31
Anger and rage can do more harm to those those who practice it, than it does to the person the anger is targeted at. How many times have we witnessed someone so full of anger and rage that they end up doing something that only hurts themselves. I readily admit that for many years I walked with anger in my heart for those who did me wrong or hurt my loved ones. I chose to sin and be angry, rather than be obedient and let go of that anger. It took many years to learn this lesson. And all it took, was for me to submit to God’s will in my life, and soon I was seeing things through His eyes instead of my own. Once I submitted to the will of GOD, I realized how often He offered me grace instead of reacting in anger at me.
The Lord our God gave us a l free will, which is the ability to choose which road to take in our daily journey. We can either choose to walk in peace with GOD, or we can choose to walk in anger with our enemies in this World. One is grace the other is not, one is obedience the other is sin. We must all come to the realization that, through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus, we can have Salvation. However, with salvation comes the duty to love, not hate. He loves me, and his grace is sufficient for me, who am I to do any less for others?
I am not perfect by any means, and thus I still fail to control my anger at people and in some situations. Especially in today’s World where evil is so in our face, and those who practice it want to claim their wickedness is righteous and acceptable in GOD’s eyes. However, I know that I must try my best to love and bless those who do me wrong. I can hate their evil, but I must love them. When I’m successful at holding back my anger, and then pray for them, I know I will heaping coals of fire upon their heads instead burning myself with my own anger.
If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat;
And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink;
For so you will heap coals of fire on his head,
And the LORD will reward you.
Proverbs 25:21-22
Forgiving those who do me wrong is like pulling a power play on my heart. I give it to GOD, and He does what He always does. He reveals things I have yet to deal with in my own life that could anger others. Sometimes they are things I have hidden for years, even from myself.
If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,” says the Lord. Therefore “IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM; IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP COALS OF FIRE ON HIS HEAD.Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Romans 12:18-21
What many fail to realize is that the reason Moses did not enter the promised land was because of his anger at the people. After wondering with the misfits he freed from Egypt, he had to deal with their constant complaints and ungratefulness for setting them free from bondage. You may will recall the time God told Moses to strike the rock to give the people water.
Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and you shall
strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.”
Exodus 17:6
Well fast forward 40 years, and again they are complaining about water. This time God told Moses to just speak to the rock. Instead, in his anger Moses chastised the people and then angrily struck the rock a few times. God got upset with Moses, and told him because of what he did he would die before they entered the promise land.
And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock; and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?” Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank. Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.”
Numbers 20:10-12
Now it’s not that Moses died and went to Hell. However, his anger caused him to miss out on the blessing God had in store for him here in this World. If anyone deserved to enter into the promised land, which God was going to give the Israelites, it was Moses. If for no other reason than he had to put up with the ungrateful sorry bunch of losers he had been babysitting for the last 40 years.
What we need to understand is that our anger at those who hate and ridicule and persecute us, could keep us from receiving the blessing God wants us to enjoy here in this World. We are supposed to be an example of a loving and forgiving God. Paul pretty much tells us that if we want to get upset with anyone, we should get upset with our fellow Christians. We should avoid bad Christians, not those who are in the World,
I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person.
1 Corinthians 5:9-11
He tells us this, because the World is lost and those who are lost do as the lost do. You cannot avoid the lost, because how can you evangelize to them if you are not in contact with them. It does not mean you should hang out in bars or join them in their sin, but you need to be around a lost person to have a chance to save them. We cannot expect the lost to stumble into a Church and ask to be saved. In a blue Moon this could happen, but we need to be amongst the lost to reach them.
Be mad at the World, not the sinners in the world. Be angry, but do not sin. Hate evil, but not those practicing it. Do as Jesus did. Jesus scolded the religious leaders of the time, and avoided hanging out with them. Yet, did not scold the sinners that he hung out with. Remember the time he spent the day with Zacchaeus? Luke 19:1-10
So, we as a child of Christ, are to be His example to the those lost in the World. We must extend our hand of friendship in the chance we may save them from their own self destruction. We do this in many ways, one of them is by controlling our anger. Remember, if there was ever a time Jesus would have been justified in being angry and condemning of others, it was when they scourged and then lifted HIM up like a snake in the desert. So let go of the anger Christian, and enjoy the blessings God has in store for you. Blessings all Christian’s jeopardize by not being an example of Him in this fallen World.
I pray that those who have ears to hear, will hear what the Spirit of the Lord says, and call upon His name.
Amen
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