Simply feeling the emotion of anger is not a sin, it is all about how we react to this emotion. The problem is that we don’t simply feel anger and let it go, but we act upon it in some way and that is what gets us into trouble.
As a kid your little sibling takes your favorite toy, you get mad and hit them. Someone insults you so you lash right back with your own hurtful words. Someone cuts you off while driving so you tailgate them, honk your horn, and call them every name in the book. It isn’t the emotion but the reaction. When faced with situations that anger us we have a choice of how to react. We didn’t have to hit our little sibling, we could have let them have the toy and we could have played with it later. We didn’t have to lash back with our own hurtful words we could have chosen not to be guilty of the same thing and turned the other cheek, which is what Jesus commanded us to do in the first place. We didn’t have to honk and scream at the driver who cut us off, we could have been thankful we didn’t have a car accident. The thing we have to realize is that when someone wrongs us we do not have a right to try and get even. It is not our place, and no matter how much of a reason we think we have, revenge of any kind has always been and will always be, sin.
Romans 12:19 “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.”
We have to learn to let it go. We have to learn to forgive.
Matthew 6:14-15 “For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”
The key to dealing with anger is forgiveness. Forgiveness is our greatest weapon against the evil beast that rages within us.
Are you harboring bitterness in your heart? Are you holding back forgiveness from someone who has wronged you in the pas? Take it to God. Ephesians 4:32 talks about forgiving others as Christ forgave us. No matter what anyone may have done to hurt or harm us it can't compare to the wrong we have done and do to our Savior, yet Christ has forgiven us. Take a moment and ask God to reveal any grudges or bitterness that may be lurking in the dark corners of your heart.
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