Grace For Your Day August 17

Grace For Your Day

Anger has been defined as “a strong feeling of annoyance, displeasure, or hostility towards something.” It is a person’s response to not getting what he / she wants. It can be passive or aggressive. It can be peaceful or violent but, whatever the case, anger is how we respond to disappointment. It is what we do when we do not get our way and it is never good. As one author said, “Anger does not solve anything but it can destroy everything.”

With that in mind, Paul writes in Ephesians 4:20-24, 31-32:

But you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus,  that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self . . . 
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. 

Paul says that this is how you renew your mind. This is how you lay aside the old self and put on the new self. You need to stop getting angry. You need to stop getting upset when you do not get your own way. He is so adamant about this that he mentions it six times. He uses six different words for “anger” in this passage before he provides a solution to it. He says that the best way to stop getting angry is to forgive. The best way to repent of this sin is to remember what God has done for you at the cross and forgive each other just as God has forgiven you you.

We often do not think about this but there is a direct link in the Bible between anger and unforgiveness. There is a direct link between bitterness and pride because bitter people do not see this. They do not realize that God has forgiven them of so much. They do not realize that God has pardoned them of so many sins that they have no right to be angry with others. They have no right to get upset because God has not gotten upset with them.

Do you understand this today? Do you realize that God is no longer upset with you because of Christ? If you do, it should be easy for you to forgive others. It should be easy for you to be kind to them. Do you see the link between anger and unforgiveness? Do you see the link between bitterness and pride? If you do, it should humble you. It should throw you to the ground when you realize that God has forgiven you of so much. He has pardoned you of so many sins that you have no right to be angry anymore which is what we are going to talk about this week at Grace Fellowship Church.

Whether you have an anger problem or not, this passage is for you because it is one of the most practical sections in the Book of Ephesians. Please join us at 9:30 this Sunday as we study it and prepare to be humbled together. See you then!

- Jeremy Cagle

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