ANGER GAMES

Feeling angry happens to ALL of us; it even happened to Jesus. (John 2: 13-17 when he chased the money lenders out of the temple) Anger in itself isn't a sin. Matthew 5:22 says "But I tell you the truth that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgement. Again, anyone who says to his brother "Raca" (I think that is like idiot) is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says "you fool" (I think this is cursing someone) will be in danger of the fire of hell." I KNOW...I'm sure you are thinking..."Saundra, you JUST SAID that anger is not a sin"...and I still think I'm on the right track, so hang in there for a second.  This passage in Matthew has been debated for EVER...some translations have "without a cause" after angry with his brother, but there is thinking that it was added later...and I don't think we need it...here's why...He seems to be referring to two separate outward expressions of anger...one gets you in trouble with the local justice system, and one gets you hell...WOW!...I don't know the original Greek for this term anger, but the passage says we will be SUBJECT to judgement...meaning it could happen...WHEN???...well, read on...WHEN YOU CALL YOUR BROTHER AN IDIOT OR CURSE HIM...that is ACTION associated with a feeling...THAT'S what makes it an offence.  It is the feelings of anger out of control that make it a sin...as I am reading this...AND coupled with Ephesians 4:26-27 "In your anger do not sin". Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and give the devil a foothold" it also says that we are in a state of anger, but it is the action that makes it a sin.  Anyhoo, that's how I'm reading this...anyone out there is always welcome to shed more light on the subject as we are all in this together!!

SO, I am reading that it only becomes sinful and wrong when we handle our anger incorrectly.  Have you ever sat and thought what makes you angry, and further, WHY you got angry?  

We feel angry when our sense of justice or right and wrong is attacked; or we perceive it has been attacked.(that may be the same thing...hmmmm)  It can be a reasonable sense of justice or our own skewed justice born from things we have stored too long without handling it. The feeling is not wrong...it is a built in warning system that something is not right somewhere...and that is a good thing!! It becomes wrong when we do something sinful as retaliation or too quick a reaction.  It then becomes a GAME.  You know the scenario...someone gets angry and they say something ugly, or DO something ugly either to someone else or ourselves. THEN the person you said or did something to retaliates or you hurt yourself in some way and have some consequences from it...and on it goes UNTIL you either loose everything you love (which could even be your life) or you decide you want to be still and listen to God (Psalm 46:10a...be still and know that I am God) and break that cycle or end the game.

I was in the grocery store one day talking on the phone.  I had stopped to listen carefully so was just standing in one place.  All of a sudden a big man bumped into me.  He walked a few steps and then turned and began yelling at me for making him bump into me.  He said a few choice words that I won't repeat and was yelling at the top of his voice!  I and everyone within earshot (which was EVERYBODY) just stopped and stared.  The only thing that came out of my mouth after the instinctive "sorry" was "Shame on you".  He continued to yell, but I just walked on.  Mostly from embarassement, for me and for him! And, it was a little scary.  I think this man had a bit of an anger issue...if we look at this the way we've been discussing it he had some issues that were unresolved so he reacted inappropriately.

I used to react from anger all the time.  I remember one time in a fight with my boyfriend on the phone and he said things that made me angry so I literally threw the phone across the room!  OK, the consequence was I had to buy a new phone, and I freaked out my boyfriend and had to work hard to apologize and change my reactions to show that my apology was sincere.  That was goofy!  What good did that do???  It is just a simple example of anger turned outward and how silly, wrong, and full of consequences it is!

In my last post I talked about how satan is a liar and how he can feed us lies about ourselves that destroy the beautiful person God created...or at least make us unrecognizable from His original creation.  THIS is the way we can find our true selves as God intended...by going back and examining WHEN we are triggered to an inappropriate reaction and asking God to help us see the difference between the lie and the truth He intended us to know and be.  Like I said in that post for ME I got a message early on that I had to be perfect. WOW that's an impossible task!  Through that lie I also adopted the idea that if others weren't perfect there was something wrong and somehow I had to fight to get it right...for THEM and ME. WOWIE  WOW WOW!!...The truth was that I don't need to be perfect, I can't be perfect as Jesus was the only one walking that was perfect and that God gives us His grace freely, and that covers the imperfect self! Ephesians 1:6 "So we praise God for the glorious grace He has poured out on us who belong to His dear Son." It doesn't mean that we have a free pass to do what we want and expect God's grace to cover it.  Our hearts are a big deal to God...are we living as He asked us to...are we looking to Him for answers in our lives...That is critical.  Proverbs 27:19 "As water reflects a face, so a man's heart reflects the man"and I Samuel 16:7b "The Lord does not look at the things man looks at.  Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart" 


James 1:19 "My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you"


Acting out in anger isn't the answer.  We've all done it I am sure...and we've all been so miserable in it, I am equally as sure...so it is our CHOICE to either stay in that anger game, or find out what is eating at our souls that makes us stuck, asking God to help us understand what HIS truth is about us, and moving forward.  Not always an easy task, but SO REWARDING when we see the awesomeness of God and how He can heal our hurts that get us stuck and help us find our way to a life free of those chains!!

GOD BLESS!