Turn the other cheek... or turn over tables?

There is a lot in life that can make us angry and most of the time we are more than willing to blame it on the actions of someone else, aren't we?... an overwhelming assignment by our boss, a disobedient choice by a child, an inconsiderate decision of a spouse, a harsh word from a family member or friend, a loss by our team in the tourney! You name it, there is a lot that could light our anger fuses.

In our Live Love series, we have been learning about what love looks like and what it doesn't look like based on 1 Corinthians 13. This past Sunday, we learned that love is "not easily angered"; so the implication for us is that love stays "calm", that is, it doesn't "blow up." Anger itself may not be the problem for us. The problem is when we sin in our anger. (Eph 4:26). In the bible, God gets angry (Ps 7:11) and Jesus gets angry too (Mk 3:1-6; Lk 6:27-32). Anger is really a warning light for something that needs to be addressed - that is, something is wrong. So we can use the God-given passion created by anger to fix whatever is wrong, not to create bigger problems for ourselves! When we are "easily angered", we are not living love.

Anger is sinful and unloving when it is: motivated by pride (Jas 1:19-20), dishonors God (1 Cor 10:31), allowed to linger (Eph 4:26-27), and is abusive to others. (Eph 4:15). We can manage our anger and live love when we: 1) Acknowledge and confess when our sin in our anger. (1 Jn 1:9). 2) See God in the trial. (Gen 50:20; Rom 8:28) 3) Leave room for God's wrath. (Gen 50:19; Rom 12:19). 4) Return good for evil. (Gen 50:21, Rom 12:21) and 5) Act to solve our part of the problem. (Rom 12:18). For much more, please listen to the sermon on line. Share it with someone. You can also read, The Other Side of Love: Handling Anger in a Godly Way by Gary Chapman.