“Stop being angry, put aside rage, and don’t be upset — it leads to evil.” Psalms 37:8
We hear a lot about how destructive anger is but do we think that it is an indulgence? We allow ourselves the right to be angry about things — just for a little while! But God says that we have to stop it! We have to put it aside because when we allow ourselves to even get upset, this will lead to evil!
I heard someone talk about anger 30 some years ago. Here was the thought. Have you ever noticed how you can be in a full blown argument with your husband (or wife) and you firmly believe that you cannot help yourself because he (or she) simply makes you SO ANGRY! However, when in this rage, if the phone rings, you pick it up (mid-sentence) and sweetly answer, ‘Hello”? What happened to your being unable to control your anger?
The point is we CAN allow ourselves to indulge in our anger for just a little or we CAN stop it immediately. Again, the thing I have found the most effective is to get alone with God for a bit. Actually give the anger to God. Thank Him for every good thing you can remember about the person. If it is someone outside the home who has done something destructive, you can thank God that he is someone for whom Christ died. You can ask God to bless him with salvation (if not saved), joy and peace. When we surrender our will to Christ, we gain victory. The bible says we are to ‘bless — not curse.’
The result of giving our anger to God immediately, is He gives us joy and peace plus we are protected then from being led into sin. We have victorious joy!
