“In your anger do not sin: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.” Ephesians 4:26-27
“If vented thoughtlessly, anger can hurt others and destroy relationships. If kept inside, it can cause us to become bitter and destroy us from within. Paul tells us to deal wiht our anger immediately in a way that builds relationships rather than detroys them. If we nurse our anger, we will give Satan an opportunity to divide us. Anger must be dealt with as quickly as possible. Used correctly, anger can motivate us to right a wrong. redress a grievance, correct an injustice. Used improperly, it can burn us and everyone else around us. Are you angry with someone right now? What can you do to resolve your differences? Don’t let the day end before you begin working on mending your relationships.” Life Application Commentary (Ephesians p.95)
I pray that this message touches many hearts.
“Used correctly, anger can motivate us to right a wrong. redress a grievance, correct an injustice.” what a great way to look at how to turn anger in a positive.
This message (25th) touched my family/me hard. Our daughter was assaulted at end of her senior year (5/2008) and anger has burned within our hearts every since. This is bringing us to a place of forgiveness. Please pray our daughter would reach that place as well…she is so hurt and can’t forgive herself when it wasn’t even her fault. She needs to find her way back to God – she longs for Him but hurts too much to reach out to Him. Crazy huh? She’s at college now, but I am encouraging her to listen to the podcasts.
“We all want to avoid getting what we deserve, yet we’re reluctant to extend that same action to others–especially when someone has hurt us. But grace isn’t just meant for us personally; it’s meant to be given to other as well. And that’s really hard to do! It feels weak sometimes. It feels like we’ve given up or condoned something wrong. But it’s actually one of the strongest things we can do.”
Do you know that I have been “shocked” by this weeks events. I placed the name of someone in that shredder on Sunday so that I could choose to forgive (make it a decision, not an emotion). I’m not sure if God is testing my heart or what, but that person has phoned our home twice this week. Both times, I’ve chosen not to be hurt or sin in my anger, but instead I realized it’s all in the shredder, so it is not my issue to contend with. I’ve forgiven, I’ve released it and God is in control!