Change Needed? Face It and Act Today!

When life gets out of control, the most common response is anger because of the loss of personal power. When Jacob marshaled all his courage, gathered his family and set out for his homeland, his father-in-law Laban was fit to be tied. Jacob feared his father-in-law would take possession of all he owned, including his wives and children. 

 

          Jacob could never stand up to his father-in-law, so resentment and anger had to be suppressed. We often resent a person's ability to take charge, to be in control and dominate a situation. So suppressing anger is one way to manage it, and we do so by pretending that it doesn't exist or that whatever caused it is of no importance. 

          Everyone is capable of anger, but who can express it in beneficial ways? We're often afraid of anger, even our own. We feel angry when something has gone awry, when changes need to be made but we’re fearful of making the needed changes. “Never let the sun go down on your anger” means facing needed change and acting on it.

God's Gifts: Love, Hope, Freedom - Part 2

After Bible study and worship service, I asked my daughter, a first grader, what she learned in her class that Sunday morning. "You must never be angry, for it's a sin to be angry," was her reply. She had learned something that isn't true, for God designed us to express this emotion. However when out of control and destructive, anger can be harmful and sinful.

To be restricted from sharing your thoughts and feelings with a loving, trusting intimate other is to smother the person God created you to be. Otherwise you're pretending to be something that's false. To come to the end of life without having been able to articulate what you think and feel, which is a very important need, would be a great loss.

To avoid this loss and the despair it creates, choose to accept the freedom and autonomy God makes possible through faith and trust in Christ Jesus. Jesus said that God "has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives." Integrity grounded in love for God, for others, and for oneself breaks the restraints of self-imprisonment. Jesus will help you do this.