I Peter 2: 23 about Jesus -- "When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly."
More thoughts on anger from the In Touch devotionals...
In dealing with anger, first we must "recognize anger in our hearts" and then "confess unrighteous anger as sin and then begin to deal with it immediately. Because anger is often a response to hurt, care must be taken not to excuse or defend it in the name of justice. Although someone may have sinned against you, holding onto anger in response is also a sin. Scripture tells us to overcome evil with good, not to repay it (Romans 12:17-21). . . . We can't expect to live in the new nature Christ has created for us while retaining our 'right' to be angry and hold grudges."
17 Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. 18 If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. 19 Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 Therefore
“ If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
If he is thirsty, give him a drink;
For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.”
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
And lest we think this stuff is too hard. Well, it is. In our own strength. However, Paul tells us in Philippians 4:
13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
And all things includes forgiving those who have hurt us, right?
"Such a response is unnatural since the One who modeled it is supernatural. Priorities need to change for us to emulate Jesus. Love and understanding must supersede the need to defend ourselves; preserving the relationship must replace safeguarding our rights. Let Christ be your defender and protector."
2 comments:
Is there such thing as righteous anger? If so, what defines it as such?
Carmen, I googled "righteous anger" and found this article.
http://www.lwbc.co.uk/Walk%20Worthy/righteous_anger.htm
It seems we can hate the things that God hates, however, we can never let our emotions control us.
The conclusion of this article is this. If you read it, let me know what you think. Yours is a good question for sure!
From the article
"When righteous anger becomes ungodly, sinful and malicious it ceases to be righteous. Yes, the “zeal of God” might “consume” us (Psalm 119:139), but we must never allow such an emotion to become vindictive. When James and John wanted to call fire down on the Samaritans who rejected their Lord, Jesus “turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them” (Luke 9:55-56.)
There is a right time for righteous anger, and there are right reasons for righteous anger, but we must always remember to walk worthy of our vocation."
Also here is an article with many Bible references to support what it says. What do you think?
http://www.gotquestions.org/anger.html
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