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anger!
you mad bro?
Anger (Wrath) vs. Love (Charity, Meekness, Patience)
Anger is not a sin. It is an emotion, a God given emotion. Consider the following scripture.
Psalm 4:4
In your anger do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent.
It says “in your anger…” This of course implies that we will get angry. Why? Say it with me kids; It is an emotion, a God given emotion.
I know this to be true because of all the deadly sins, this is the only one Jesus did. Since Jesus never sinned, we deduce that anger, in and of itself, is not a sin. We read similar verse in…
Ephesians 4:26
"In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry,
Need more proof that anger alone is not sin? Consider the Inherent anger of a child or baby.
It is obviously an emotion put there at birth, embedded in human nature itself.
Not only in early human nature, but early human civilization…
The first mention of anger was outside the Garden of Eden--Unjustified and uncontrolled anger has led many persons into greater sin, even acts of violence. “Cain grew hot with great anger” and slew Abel. (Genesis 4:5, 8)
Psalm 7:11
God is a righteous judge, a God who expresses his wrath every day.
But before we get ahead of ourselves and think that our anger is ok we need to look deeper into the details and definitions of anger. It is define as a strong feeling of displeasure and belligerence aroused by a wrong.
Two Greek words are used in the New Testament for our English word “anger.” One (orge) which means “passion, energy;” The other, (thumos) means “agitated, boiling.” Webster defines anger as “excessive emotion, passion aroused by a sense of injury or wrong;”
Consider closely that last definition, it does not say injury or wrong to self exclusively.
Often times called anger is synonymous with the word wrath.
Wrath can be described as a person that is consumed and enslaved to emotional feelings of anger.
Anything that consumes you or enslaves you is, or is very close to, sin. Again consuming anger and anger that controls you is sinful anger.
John 2:17
His disciples remembered that it is written: "Zeal for your house will consume me.”
James 1:20
For man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.
This denotes that there is man’s anger and God’s anger. Human anger and godly anger. Righteous anger and unrighteous anger.
Before we look at righteous anger lets examine unrighteous anger. Anger that is wrongly applied is destructive at best, deadly at worst. I understand the draw of anger. I understand the power anger makes you feel like you have and I understand the protection it offers. Anger is often used to protect one from getting hurt emotionally. But consider this very descriptive picture of anger…
Of the 7 deadly sins, anger is possibly the most fun. To lick your wounds, to smack your lips over grievances long past, to roll over your tongue the prospect of bitter confrontations still to come, to savor to the last toothsome morsel both the pain you are given and the pain you are giving back--in many ways it is a feast fit for a king. The chief drawback is that what you are wolfing down is yourself. The skeleton at the feast is you.
Frederick Buechner,
That is what “consuming” anger will do.
Anger progressively gets worse. You’re either mad, more mad, or madder still. There seems to be little or no progression towards un-mad. The progression is always towards the worse.
Sinful or unrighteous anger is usually hereditary. A classic example of “sins of the father.” It is not genetics but assimilation.
An author for Reader's Digest writes how he studied the Amish people in preparation for an article on them. In his observation at the school yard, he noted that the children never screamed or yelled. This amazed him. He spoke to the schoolmaster. He remarked how he had not once heard an Amish child yell, and asked why the schoolmaster thought that was so. The schoolmaster replied, "Well, have you ever heard an Amish adult yell?"
Unrighteous anger and ungodly wrath is destructive inasmuch as what it tears down cannot be taken back; only rebuilt.
A lady once came to Billy Sunday and tried to rationalize her angry outbursts. “There’s nothing wrong with losing my temper,”
She said. “I blow up, and then it’s all over.”
“So does a shotgun,” Sunday replied, “and look at the damage it leaves behind!”
One more example of anger that you may not recognize right away is suppressed anger.
In a 1994 article, "Wars' Lethal Leftovers Threaten Europeans," Associated Press reporter Christopher Burns writes: "The bombs of World War II are still killing in Europe. They turn up -- and sometimes blow up -- at construction sites, in fishing nets, or on beaches fifty years after the guns fell silent. "Hundreds of tons of explosives are recovered every year in France alone. Thirteen old bombs exploded in France last year, killing twelve people and wounding eleven, the Interior Ministry said. "'I've lost two of my colleagues,' said Yvon Bouvet, who heads a government team in the Champagne-Ardennes region that defuses explosives from both World War I and II.... "Unexploded bombs become more dangerous with time, Bouvet said. 'With the corrosion inside, the weapon becomes more unstable, the detonator can be exposed.'" What is true of lingering bombs is also true of lingering anger. Buried anger will explode when we least expect it. --
Oftentimes, anger at oneself for whatever reason(s) is bottled up and directed towards another. If you are married, it will almost always show up as a projection towards your spouse. Inward anger at oneself is often the result of hidden sin. Bear with me as I digress a moment.
This leads me to a sub-sermon about communication in regards to relationships and marriage. Four things that will help relationships taken from Ephesians chapter 4.
1) Be honest and speak (Ephesians 4:15, 25). People can’t read our minds, just remember to speak the truth IN LOVE.
2) Stay current (Ephesians 4:26-27). Don’t “sand bag,” letting the list of what is bothering you build up until the “dam busts” and you lose your temper. Dealing with and sharing what is bothering you before it gets to that point is important. Keep a short list!
3) Attack the problem, not the person (Ephesians 4:29,31). Along this line, one must keep in mind the importance of keeping the volume of one’s voice low (Proverbs 15:1). Yelling is usually a form of attack toward the person.
4) Act, don’t react (Ephesians 4:31-32). Because of our fallen nature, our “knee-jerk” reflex, our first impulse is usually a sinful one (verse 31). The time spent in counting to ten should be used to reflect upon the godly way to respond (verse 32) and to remind yourself how anger is to be used to solve problems not create bigger ones.
That is some examples and discussion on ill uses of anger. Now lets look at some uses of anger that are ok, known as righteous anger. The greatest way to examine righteous anger is to look to Jesus.
Anyone can become angry. That is easy. But to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose and in the right way. That is not easy. Aristotles said that.
Anger, done right, should always cause reflection not rejection.
Godly acts of anger should leave the aroma of contemplation not the stench of condemnation.
Jesus got angry, no doubt. But why? And to whom? It was always the right person, always the right degree of anger, always at the right time, for the right purpose and in the right way.
Righteous anger…
1) Never flies off the handle--
John 2:15
So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.
One must consider the amount of time it would have taken Jesus to fashion a whip. All the while bringing his anger under control.
2) Defends the defenseless--
Mark 10:14
When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
If you ever stuck up to a bully on behalf of someone who was being picked on, you know exactly how good righteous anger feels.
3) Reacts when God’s Word or Will is hindered, misused, or
misrepresented.
Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."
When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?”
These disciples were surely using the Word of God improperly.
======================================================
Yes anger is not a sin. But ill directed anger, anger that flies off, anger that becomes rage and wrath, well, this could lead to serious consequences.
Romans 12:19
Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord.
Face it, either you are going to deal with who wronged you or you are going to let God deal with it.
Here is a bold statement; anger that doesn’t fall into any of the previous three categories is sinful anger. It’s really that simple.
A person who is angry on the right grounds, against the right persons, in the right manner, at the right moment, and for the right length of time deserves great praise. Now we will briefly examine the virtue that combats anger.
========================================================
Love ( sometimes called Charity, Meekness, Patience)
Love, from the Latin "caritas" which means "dearness, affection or charity".
Love the noun, is so overused. Yet love the verb, is seldom used. Love is so general, which is why the definition the KJV uses is "charity". I like that! It puts an action to the noun. In the Bible, the word for love is almost always “Caritas” the verb form of love.
Interesting about love is that God is love. Many people who know that think that God cannot hate. That it is impossible for God to hate. Wrong!
God hates sin. God hates evil. In fact, God hates quite a few things…
Proverbs 6:17-19
haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.
If you cannot hate wrong, it's very questionable whether you really love
righteousness.
God hates sin, the devil, any form of evil and spiritual adultery. So because God hates evil and sin we must not allow anger to be transformed into either of these. Lets face it changing anger to good is not easy. I could simply tell you…
Romans 12:21,
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
But a problem without a solution is just an observation. So how can we realistically “overcome evil with good?”
Change your actions toward a person, and your feelings will change about the person.
The old “fake it till you make it” theory. This is done by exhibiting patience…
Patience, from the Latin "patientia" means "capable of enduring".
No doubt some people are endearing and some are enduring. What a sad state when you consider someone and think, “I will endure them” It sounds like punishment, sometimes it is.
Patience is so important because sinful anger is the result of immediate reaction. Anger that flies off the handle is a reactive anger. Patience diffuses that.
Compassion is the key. A compassionate person is a patient person. A compassionate person is a loving person. A compassionate person is seldom in sinful anger. The sub-heading of Jonah chapter 4 is “Jonah’s anger and God’s compassion”
So we have love, charity, meekness, patience, compassion, and many others to combat anger or wrath. But all of those are a derivative of love.
In conclusion, If you must hate, do so in love.
On February 9, 1960, Adolph Coors III was kidnapped and held for ransom. Seven months later his body was found on a remote hillside. He had been shot to death. Adolph Coors IV, then fifteen years old, lost not only his father but his best friend. For years young Coors hated Joseph Corbett, the man who was sentenced to life for the slaying. Then in 1975 Ad Coors became a Christian. While he divested himself of his interest in the family beer business, he could not divest himself of the hatred that consumed him. Resentment seethed within him and blighted his growth in faith. He prayed to God for help because he realized how his hatred for Corbett was alienating him from God and other persons. The day came, however, when claiming the Spirit's presence, Ad Coors visited the maximum security unit of Colorado's Canon City penitentiary and tried to talk with Corbett. Corbett refused to see him. Coors left a Bible inscribed with this message: I'm here to see you today and I'm sorry that we could not meet. As a Christian I am summoned by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, to forgive. I do forgive you, and I ask you to forgive me for the hatred I've held in my heart for you.' Later Coors confessed, 'I have a love for that man that only Jesus Christ could have put in my heart.'
Proverbs 10:12
Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs.
1 Peter 4:8Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
Be Blessed.
Anger is not a sin. It is an emotion, a God given emotion. Consider the following scripture.
Psalm 4:4
In your anger do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent.
It says “in your anger…” This of course implies that we will get angry. Why? Say it with me kids; It is an emotion, a God given emotion.
I know this to be true because of all the deadly sins, this is the only one Jesus did. Since Jesus never sinned, we deduce that anger, in and of itself, is not a sin. We read similar verse in…
Ephesians 4:26
"In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry,
Need more proof that anger alone is not sin? Consider the Inherent anger of a child or baby.
It is obviously an emotion put there at birth, embedded in human nature itself.
Not only in early human nature, but early human civilization…
The first mention of anger was outside the Garden of Eden--Unjustified and uncontrolled anger has led many persons into greater sin, even acts of violence. “Cain grew hot with great anger” and slew Abel. (Genesis 4:5, 8)
Psalm 7:11
God is a righteous judge, a God who expresses his wrath every day.
But before we get ahead of ourselves and think that our anger is ok we need to look deeper into the details and definitions of anger. It is define as a strong feeling of displeasure and belligerence aroused by a wrong.
Two Greek words are used in the New Testament for our English word “anger.” One (orge) which means “passion, energy;” The other, (thumos) means “agitated, boiling.” Webster defines anger as “excessive emotion, passion aroused by a sense of injury or wrong;”
Consider closely that last definition, it does not say injury or wrong to self exclusively.
Often times called anger is synonymous with the word wrath.
Wrath can be described as a person that is consumed and enslaved to emotional feelings of anger.
Anything that consumes you or enslaves you is, or is very close to, sin. Again consuming anger and anger that controls you is sinful anger.
John 2:17
His disciples remembered that it is written: "Zeal for your house will consume me.”
James 1:20
For man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.
This denotes that there is man’s anger and God’s anger. Human anger and godly anger. Righteous anger and unrighteous anger.
Before we look at righteous anger lets examine unrighteous anger. Anger that is wrongly applied is destructive at best, deadly at worst. I understand the draw of anger. I understand the power anger makes you feel like you have and I understand the protection it offers. Anger is often used to protect one from getting hurt emotionally. But consider this very descriptive picture of anger…
Of the 7 deadly sins, anger is possibly the most fun. To lick your wounds, to smack your lips over grievances long past, to roll over your tongue the prospect of bitter confrontations still to come, to savor to the last toothsome morsel both the pain you are given and the pain you are giving back--in many ways it is a feast fit for a king. The chief drawback is that what you are wolfing down is yourself. The skeleton at the feast is you.
Frederick Buechner,
That is what “consuming” anger will do.
Anger progressively gets worse. You’re either mad, more mad, or madder still. There seems to be little or no progression towards un-mad. The progression is always towards the worse.
Sinful or unrighteous anger is usually hereditary. A classic example of “sins of the father.” It is not genetics but assimilation.
An author for Reader's Digest writes how he studied the Amish people in preparation for an article on them. In his observation at the school yard, he noted that the children never screamed or yelled. This amazed him. He spoke to the schoolmaster. He remarked how he had not once heard an Amish child yell, and asked why the schoolmaster thought that was so. The schoolmaster replied, "Well, have you ever heard an Amish adult yell?"
Unrighteous anger and ungodly wrath is destructive inasmuch as what it tears down cannot be taken back; only rebuilt.
A lady once came to Billy Sunday and tried to rationalize her angry outbursts. “There’s nothing wrong with losing my temper,”
She said. “I blow up, and then it’s all over.”
“So does a shotgun,” Sunday replied, “and look at the damage it leaves behind!”
One more example of anger that you may not recognize right away is suppressed anger.
In a 1994 article, "Wars' Lethal Leftovers Threaten Europeans," Associated Press reporter Christopher Burns writes: "The bombs of World War II are still killing in Europe. They turn up -- and sometimes blow up -- at construction sites, in fishing nets, or on beaches fifty years after the guns fell silent. "Hundreds of tons of explosives are recovered every year in France alone. Thirteen old bombs exploded in France last year, killing twelve people and wounding eleven, the Interior Ministry said. "'I've lost two of my colleagues,' said Yvon Bouvet, who heads a government team in the Champagne-Ardennes region that defuses explosives from both World War I and II.... "Unexploded bombs become more dangerous with time, Bouvet said. 'With the corrosion inside, the weapon becomes more unstable, the detonator can be exposed.'" What is true of lingering bombs is also true of lingering anger. Buried anger will explode when we least expect it. --
Oftentimes, anger at oneself for whatever reason(s) is bottled up and directed towards another. If you are married, it will almost always show up as a projection towards your spouse. Inward anger at oneself is often the result of hidden sin. Bear with me as I digress a moment.
This leads me to a sub-sermon about communication in regards to relationships and marriage. Four things that will help relationships taken from Ephesians chapter 4.
1) Be honest and speak (Ephesians 4:15, 25). People can’t read our minds, just remember to speak the truth IN LOVE.
2) Stay current (Ephesians 4:26-27). Don’t “sand bag,” letting the list of what is bothering you build up until the “dam busts” and you lose your temper. Dealing with and sharing what is bothering you before it gets to that point is important. Keep a short list!
3) Attack the problem, not the person (Ephesians 4:29,31). Along this line, one must keep in mind the importance of keeping the volume of one’s voice low (Proverbs 15:1). Yelling is usually a form of attack toward the person.
4) Act, don’t react (Ephesians 4:31-32). Because of our fallen nature, our “knee-jerk” reflex, our first impulse is usually a sinful one (verse 31). The time spent in counting to ten should be used to reflect upon the godly way to respond (verse 32) and to remind yourself how anger is to be used to solve problems not create bigger ones.
That is some examples and discussion on ill uses of anger. Now lets look at some uses of anger that are ok, known as righteous anger. The greatest way to examine righteous anger is to look to Jesus.
Anyone can become angry. That is easy. But to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose and in the right way. That is not easy. Aristotles said that.
Anger, done right, should always cause reflection not rejection.
Godly acts of anger should leave the aroma of contemplation not the stench of condemnation.
Jesus got angry, no doubt. But why? And to whom? It was always the right person, always the right degree of anger, always at the right time, for the right purpose and in the right way.
Righteous anger…
1) Never flies off the handle--
John 2:15
So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.
One must consider the amount of time it would have taken Jesus to fashion a whip. All the while bringing his anger under control.
2) Defends the defenseless--
Mark 10:14
When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
If you ever stuck up to a bully on behalf of someone who was being picked on, you know exactly how good righteous anger feels.
3) Reacts when God’s Word or Will is hindered, misused, or
misrepresented.
- Hindered
Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."
- Misrepresented
- Misused
When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?”
These disciples were surely using the Word of God improperly.
======================================================
Yes anger is not a sin. But ill directed anger, anger that flies off, anger that becomes rage and wrath, well, this could lead to serious consequences.
Romans 12:19
Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord.
Face it, either you are going to deal with who wronged you or you are going to let God deal with it.
Here is a bold statement; anger that doesn’t fall into any of the previous three categories is sinful anger. It’s really that simple.
A person who is angry on the right grounds, against the right persons, in the right manner, at the right moment, and for the right length of time deserves great praise. Now we will briefly examine the virtue that combats anger.
========================================================
Love ( sometimes called Charity, Meekness, Patience)
Love, from the Latin "caritas" which means "dearness, affection or charity".
Love the noun, is so overused. Yet love the verb, is seldom used. Love is so general, which is why the definition the KJV uses is "charity". I like that! It puts an action to the noun. In the Bible, the word for love is almost always “Caritas” the verb form of love.
Interesting about love is that God is love. Many people who know that think that God cannot hate. That it is impossible for God to hate. Wrong!
God hates sin. God hates evil. In fact, God hates quite a few things…
Proverbs 6:17-19
haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.
If you cannot hate wrong, it's very questionable whether you really love
righteousness.
God hates sin, the devil, any form of evil and spiritual adultery. So because God hates evil and sin we must not allow anger to be transformed into either of these. Lets face it changing anger to good is not easy. I could simply tell you…
Romans 12:21,
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
But a problem without a solution is just an observation. So how can we realistically “overcome evil with good?”
Change your actions toward a person, and your feelings will change about the person.
The old “fake it till you make it” theory. This is done by exhibiting patience…
Patience, from the Latin "patientia" means "capable of enduring".
No doubt some people are endearing and some are enduring. What a sad state when you consider someone and think, “I will endure them” It sounds like punishment, sometimes it is.
Patience is so important because sinful anger is the result of immediate reaction. Anger that flies off the handle is a reactive anger. Patience diffuses that.
Compassion is the key. A compassionate person is a patient person. A compassionate person is a loving person. A compassionate person is seldom in sinful anger. The sub-heading of Jonah chapter 4 is “Jonah’s anger and God’s compassion”
So we have love, charity, meekness, patience, compassion, and many others to combat anger or wrath. But all of those are a derivative of love.
In conclusion, If you must hate, do so in love.
On February 9, 1960, Adolph Coors III was kidnapped and held for ransom. Seven months later his body was found on a remote hillside. He had been shot to death. Adolph Coors IV, then fifteen years old, lost not only his father but his best friend. For years young Coors hated Joseph Corbett, the man who was sentenced to life for the slaying. Then in 1975 Ad Coors became a Christian. While he divested himself of his interest in the family beer business, he could not divest himself of the hatred that consumed him. Resentment seethed within him and blighted his growth in faith. He prayed to God for help because he realized how his hatred for Corbett was alienating him from God and other persons. The day came, however, when claiming the Spirit's presence, Ad Coors visited the maximum security unit of Colorado's Canon City penitentiary and tried to talk with Corbett. Corbett refused to see him. Coors left a Bible inscribed with this message: I'm here to see you today and I'm sorry that we could not meet. As a Christian I am summoned by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, to forgive. I do forgive you, and I ask you to forgive me for the hatred I've held in my heart for you.' Later Coors confessed, 'I have a love for that man that only Jesus Christ could have put in my heart.'
Proverbs 10:12
Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs.
1 Peter 4:8Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
Be Blessed.
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