Category: Anger

70 times 7

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Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?” “No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven! Matthew 18:21-22

This is one of the greatest difficulties we face as Christians.

Forgiveness. Releasing the offender from you.

Freeing them from their offense.

Even when they don’t ask.

Especially when they don’t ask.

How many times?

Seventy times seven.

Four hundred ninety times. Unlimited.

What if the person has offended you that many times?

Then for you, it’s four hundred ninety. And counting.

Doesn’t mean you allow abuse to continue. Or offense to keep knocking you down again and again.

But normal daily interactions often yield conflict.

And aside from Jesus asking us to do this, we do have a choice.

We can forgive or not.

If we forgive, we release ourselves from bitterness. From the prison of unjustly behavior revenge.

Is it funner to stay in the prison, stuck and alone? I’ll be the first to admit yes.

It’s where we nurse our wounds unprovoked by others. It’s where we feel justified in making others pay for their deeds. Hard time is what we want.

But the prison of bitterness is also where we stay stuck. Miserable. And you know who is too pleased when we do? The enemy. The father of lies, who tells us our prison is better accommodations than freedom’s path.

The good news is this: God. Not only does God know forgiveness is superior for our relationships, and our physical or emotional health, He helps us through the process.

We don’t have to feel like forgiving. We simply need to choose and obey God.

Ask God to help you forgive the offender. Release them back into the arms of Jesus. Ask God to fill your sense of injustice with peace, replacing the bitterness with joy.

God has promised to right every wrong. He’s the ultimate judge and your defender.

Practice this today as God unlocks your prison of bitterness.

It’s incredibly difficult. But you must trust God more than you trust your bitterness.

We don’t want the enemy happy with our location, do we?

Change your address today. God’s waiting to walk you to freedom.

Oh, and if your well worn path takes your feet right back to the prison out of habit?

Stop and turn. God will help you every single time.

Photos by Lili Popper, Jametlene Reskp, Cody Otto, & Jacob Bentzinger on Unsplash

Your Glory

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Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense. Proverbs 19:11

This verse is not an easy one to read.

It’s way more fun to keep an offense, especially when you’re completely justified.

And we always are justified in our own mind, yes?

Looking at the first part, it’s easy to understand.

When we have good sense, meaning solid countenance or common sense, we don’t get angry often.

We don’t allow anger to grab us when we are in our right minds.

Trouble is, other people cause us to exit our good sense, trying to justify our offense at them.

After all, they wronged us! It’s not fair!

When we have good sense, we focus on Whose we are.

Our feet are solidly planted in our relationship with God first.

We know God is living through us, and we fully trust Him to provide us His strength, wisdom, and peace.

Could even be that we ask God how to react before we do. We train our brain to do just that. Putting God first.

So, back to the ouchy part of the verse: not taking offense.

Proverbs says it’s our glory to overlook an offense.

Means we could be offended, but we choose not to be.

Because we remain peaceful, the glory is still ours.

Our mood isn’t in the toilet.

Clouds are not hanging around.

Others can be down in the dumps, but we’re not.

It’s still sunny where we’re at, because we are choosing not to associate with the other person’s offensive behavior.

It’s their problem, not ours.

Is it more fun to take their offense and make them pay?

Sure.

But in the process, you are robbed of peace. You are robbed of minutes or hours, stewing in what they did to you. You are robbed of God’s glory shining through you.

Jesus could have put people verbally down so many times, but he regularly chose to overlook offenses.

And glory remained His.

You can pity others, if it helps.

You can feel badly they are stuck in the mud of getting back at life.

But don’t stay there or you’ll think of yourself as better than them.

And that’s almost as bad as keeping an offense.

So shrug them off.

Remain steadfast in God’s good sense.

And keep your glory as you overlook the other’s offense.

It’s hard, but it’s completely worth it.

Photos by Ingmar H, Gene Dizon, Patrick Fore, & name_ gravity on Unsplash

Squashed Bug

Published on by amylinnea2 Comments

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer. Psalm 19:14

When someone talks down to you, how does that make you feel?

How about if you become the fall out and it wasn’t even your fault?

When you’re surprised at someone’s reaction as they share none of the blame?

When you don’t feel heard, and you realize your voice is barely above a whisper?

How does it make you feel when the conversation leaves you smaller than you were. Tiny, in fact. So tiny, you feel like a bug that was just squashed completely flat?

I know how you feel. Because I felt that recently.

Had a hard conversation, and let’s just say they were only interested in one thing.

Their opinion.

Their right to state their opinion.

Their right to state their opinion in a way that left me squashed.

Interestingly enough, I’ve been taking an education leadership class.

Well, three actually, but who’s counting!

Anyhow, because I am taking these classes at a Christian university, there is always a filter of God through each concept.

How would this response or that decision reflect God and how He operates?

Brings me to that hard conversation.

The conversation directed towards me was missing understanding, grace, and a humble spirit.

Left me thinking thoughts I will not admit, but God has allowed me to see the point beyond the conversation.

God allows yuck to happen, and when it comes, we should ask ourselves what must He be teaching us?

I’ll tell you what I learned.

How not to treat other people.

How not to respond to filth.

How not to bring another person down as I lift up my own self.

Because I know how that felt – terrible.

And I never want to make someone else feel that way. Ever.

When having tough conversations, make sure you are tuned into God’s mind. God’s ways. God’s voice.

Yes, sometimes we might have to deliver unwanted messages, but we can season our talk with understanding, empathy, and love.

And when the other person feels heard, our message will be received, leaving the other with their dignity intact.

Ask God to keep filling you up with Himself.

His words of life.

As we are responsible for the words of our mouths, “may the words of our mouths and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, our STRENGTH and our REDEEMER” (from Psalm 19:14).

And then when we talk with the world, our words will leave a lovely taste of God as we represent Him with all we do and say.

Photos by Charlotte Descamps &  Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Taking Offense

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Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense. Proverbs 19:11

As a general rule, are people out to get you?

Overall, are your loved ones decent and loving?

I’m talking about deep into the heart.

Come on- keep looking.

Bottom line? People love you.

You know I’m right.

They’re not out to get you.

So stop acting like they are.

Stop getting offended at the slightest infraction.

Are you so fragile that one word can send you into a puddle of tears?

So insecure that a crooked misleading glance or sigh can ruin your day?

Or send you into a torrent of angry retorts?

I hope not.

But I see that in so many.

Choose life.

Choose to believe the best about your child or spouse.

Or, gasp, parent.

Don’t hold others to a higher standard than even your own behavior demands.

You can’t behave badly and expect others to never follow suit.

Overlook things.

Because people are not out to get you.

Instead of focusing on yourself and your needs alone, turn your attention to others.

Smile and let things roll off your back.

Don’t hold it in, gathering stones to keep.

Let go of the stones.

Let go of the offense that was never given.

Leave it all at the cross and take your peace.

You are loved.

Photos by Shawn Rain & Iva Rajović on Unsplash

Anger? You betcha!

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Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil. Psalm 37:8

Is it OK to be angry?

Yes.

Is it OK to be upset?

Yep.

Is it OK to be full of anger?

No.

Is it OK for anger to dictate my emotions?

Heck no.

Is it OK to dwell in anger?

Absolutely not.

There is a difference between allowing yourself to be angry and dwelling in anger.

When something terrible happens, it’s OK to become angry.

It’s an emotion. Perfectly natural.

Jesus became angry.

God has been angry.

It’s OK.

BUT when anger moves from simply a reaction to an emotion that dictates my actions and moods, it’s not OK.

You cannot allow anger to rule in your heart.

If anger dictates your actions, you are a nasty person.

Not someone anyone cares to be around.

If anger rules in your heart, you are bitter and full of rage.

Angry people spread their poison to anyone within earshot.

They believe life is terrible and all hope is lost.

They want revenge and will do or say whatever they feel in the moment.

Angry people don’t care if or when they hurt other people’s feelings -because they themselves are hurt.

Wounded people can become angry if they allow anger to dictate their emotions.

Wouldn’t it be almost comforting to be angry?

Is it justified?  Yes, sometimes, it is.

But we can choose life or we can choose death.

We can choose to be victims or we can choose to overcome.

We can choose to let anger rule our emotions or we can become an example of humility.

What did Jesus choose to do when He was faced with the injustice of the cross and stood before His accusers?

Jesus would have most certainly been justified to feel anger.

He would have been justified to become sarcastic and tell those false accusers a thing or two.

Instead, He chose to be silent and choose life.

If Jesus would have succumbed to anger, He would have changed history.

When we are in the midst of injustice, we can choose anger or we can choose to be like Jesus.

We can choose life.

Let’s be honest.

It’s fun to be angry.

It’s WAY more pleasant to plan revenge then wait and pray about our response.

Keep quiet? Are you kidding?

An eye for an eye, right?

 When we are slow to respond in a bad situation, we allow God to work through the details.

He might have us react in an entirely different way than we planned.

He might have us use strong words.

He might have us quietly observe.

He might use us as bold expressions of His love.

But we will never know how He wants us to respond if we continually respond in the flesh only as we want.

Photos by Japheth Mast, Jason Rosewell, Caleb Woods, & Leo Rivas on Unsplash