What Can Anger Teach Us About Ourselves?

That anger has a cutting edge to it is indisputable. For anger to pierce the heart and soul, it must be powered by fear, resentment, or hurt. The objective of anger is to diminish another’s character strengths.

By adopting this objective, we are made victims of the loneliness from alienation and guilt. If we suppress anger, we damage our character and soul. When we refuse to acknowledge the destructiveness of anger, we close the door on a vital part of our relationship with God and others.

God gave us anger to teach us how to give and receive forgiveness, which restores peace and fellowship to relationships. God’s anger caused by our sin is replaced by forgiveness and his unfailing love. Why not let this be the solution to the problems and troubles created by your anger? Then you will enjoy peace and freedom. 

                      

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Where is another God like you, who pardons the sins of the survivors among his people? You cannot stay angry with your people, for you love to be merciful. Once again you will have compassion on us. You will tread our sins beneath your feet; you will throw them into the depths of the ocean!

~Micah 7:18 The Living Bible 

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A Clean Sweep

How would you feel if someone in authority accused you of being deceitful and stealing when, in fact, you were innocent? Worse still, you knew you had no defense because your innocence could not be proven. This was the dilemma Joseph's brothers faced when they were accused of stealing from an Egyptian official who, unknown to them, was their brother Joseph.

Have you ever struggled with forgiving someone, especially a family member who was supposed to love and protect you but instead betrayed and abandoned you? Can you identify with Joseph’s struggle to seek revenge rather than to forgive his brothers who had sold him into slavery?

As Joseph stood before his brothers, he was overcome with compassion as he listened to them make their defense for Benjamin’s release from custody and explain how their father would react if he lost his youngest son. Forgiveness is necessary for healing the hurt, pain and sorrow of grief. A clean mind and spirit clear the way for a new beginning to become a reality. God delights in forgiving you and helping you achieve this objective. 

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For if you forgive others their shortcomings, your heavenly Father will forgive you, too.

~Matthew 6:14 Williams – New Testament in the Language of the People

If your brother ever sins, correct him; and if he’s sorry, forgive him.

~Luke 17:3 Beck – New Testament in the Language of Today

Be gentle with one another, sensitive; forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you.

~Ephesians 4:32 The Message