What Is Anger?

Ouch!

I must of said this several times as the lord was dealing with me concerning my anger. I used to pray all the time, asking God to deliver me from anger. It never happened. I never understood why anger was becoming a thorn in my side through out the course of my life. I wanted to be happy all the time. I wanted to be free from anger and bitterness that often resurfaced, time and time again. When people did things to me, it became a personal insult and I wanted to take matters into my own hands. I still to this day, struggle with anger a bit, but I have come a long way from where I first started. It was not until one day, God turned a light switch on in my thoughts. I realized that God created anger. "Anger is an emotion which God created and is, in and of itself, not sinful. It was designed to be used constructively in overcoming problems." (calvaryccv.org) This really pierced my heart as I began to see my own sin. God wants us to be able to control/manage our anger. Anger should only be used against injustice, or sin. I remember a story in the book of Matthews; (21-12-17) were merchants and money hangers set up their booths in the court of the Gentiles in the Temple. They were crowding out all the Gentiles who came from all over the world to worship God. Financial corruption ran rampant in the courts of the Temple. The Temple had become a platoon for bandits. This frustrated a lot of peoples attempts to worship in God's house. This hurt Jesus, and he became angry. Any practice that interfered with worshiping God had to be stopped. Notice that Jesus was angry because of SIN. Jesus reacted to a situation that he was going to set right. Jesus carefully looked at the CAUSE of the situation. Jesus had a legitimate reaction to what was taking place. Jesus did not respond selfishly as if it were a personal insult. God wants us all to be able to control our anger like Jesus. He wants us to be able to channel lawful anger into practical action, and conquer selfish anger through humility and repentance. Its not easy but, "We can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens us." (Philippians 4:13)

We are all in this together!

Walk with me.