EMISSARY^7 (G²)

COMMISIONED by CHRIST 4 SHARING HIS LIFE/KEEPING IT REAL ADMIST THE LIES (II Cor. 5:17-21))

Archive for February 11th, 2008

RIGHTEOUS ANGER VERSES GODLY ANGER: Knowing the difference….

Posted by Gabriel (G²) on February 11, 2008

This is an article I discovered over at one of my favorite sites to investigate: Jesus Christology

The following is reprinted with permission from the book Why Am I So Angry? For more information about the book, please contact Iron Sharpeneth Iron Publications. by Debi Pryde

Pray everyone enjoys:

Why Am I So Angry?

by SharperIron at 1:00 am February 11, 2008. 142 views. Filed under: Christian Living, Anger Print This Post/Page
Editor’s Note: The following is reprinted with permission from the book Why Am I So Angry? For more information about the book, please contact Iron Sharpeneth Iron Publications.

by Debi Pryde

Where do anger and fighting among people originate? What causes strife? James answers these questions in James 4:1, and his answer is swift and simple, but not exactly what we like to hear. The Bible clearly declares that the problem lies within us, not without. James makes us understand that anger originates in our corrupted human nature and is the angeroutward manifestation of inward self-motivated desires. “But,” you might object, “what about righteous anger? And isn’t anger just an emotion? Surely being angry can’t be wrong or selfish when someone has just wronged you or treated you with cruelty! Wouldn’t expressions of anger be justified in such cases?”

Anger can be described as both an emotion and an expression of displeasure. Yes, there is such a thing as righteous anger; and yes, anger can be an appropriate emotion. In the vast majority of cases, however, expressed anger is incited by real or imagined personal injury accompanied by a desire for vengeance and retaliation, which is clearly sinful. Because expressions of anger come so naturally to us as frail human beings, we don’t readily like to admit that we could actually be sinning. In fact, even mature Christians may not be willing to evaluate their angry reactions in light of God’s Word or use biblical criteria to determine whether they are expressing righteous or unrighteous (sinful) anger.

Most of the time, we naturally want to excuse, justify, or redefine what God wants His children to face and conquer by His power and grace. Honest self-evaluation requires an enormous amount of courage, humility, and God-given grace. It is not for the fainthearted or shortsighted! Self-evaluation requires spiritual ears to hear and spiritual eyes to see in order to gladly humble ourselves before God with a willingness to reject our own reasoning and submit ourselves to God’s standards. According to James 4:6, we will discover God’s enabling grace and mercy to conquer sinful anger only when we humble ourselves to God. On the other hand, when we want our own way and stubbornly cling to our pride and self-sufficiency, we discover we cannot obtain God’s overcoming power. Because God resists (is opposed to) the proud, no amount of pleading elicits God’s help until our heart is humbled and dependent on Christ alone.

  Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »