Anger is one of the fastest solvents for stripping discussion of godliness. It happens when one or both spouses loses their temper and what prevails is someone sleeping on the couch. It occurs when children or teens get into a spat and start dividing their friends, one against the other. The late pastor and philosophy professor Dallas Willard said: “How to stand for what is right without anger…Many people think they cannot stand for what is right unless they are angry. We live in a society that is sick with anger over issues of justice. There’s plenty to be mad about. Think about things that humans do to one another.” If we put this in the context of the horrific killing of George Floyd, we should ask, “How could one person do that to another?” But the wise sage gives us some instruction that may have saved lives, broken hearts and broken windows, millions and millions of dollars and a further division among opinions. Dallas on what God taught him: “Jesus says anger won’t help. But there is standard teaching in the world that if you’re not angry over conditions, you must be brain dead. So, I have to go to Jesus and let him teach me about that. “If I’m in a situation where there might be anger, I have to listen to the gentle voice of God. Here is something Jesus taught me: Everything you can accomplish with anger, you can accomplish much better without it. You don’t have to be angry to stand for what is right. And if you do stand for what is right in anger, you will deflect the people involved from the real issue and they’ll just be mad at you. Anger illicit more anger. “Anger isn’t a sin, but if you hang on to it, it will lead you there. ‘Anger rests in the bosom of fools.’ The Book of Ecclesiastes tells us. It doesn’t mean that if you’re angry, you are a fool. It means that if you want to find a lot of anger, go find a fool. “If you want to stand for what is right, do it without anger, and that will help them come to grips with the issue. If you come at it with anger, they will tie onto your anger and forget the issue. “Anger is like pain; it calls attention to something that’s wrong and that’s good. Once you’ve had your attention called to it, you need to deal with it on the basis of love and not anger. “Anger sets love aside. Love works for what is good and not just what I want to see happen to them because I’m angry at them. Anger is the will to harm or at least a readiness to see someone harmed. We have to come to these understandings from the inside and that’s where Jesus works with us.” In this time, may God lead us to a sage instead of rage. PORTAL TO HEAVEN: Hearing God requires a will to listen to Him and a heart that won't insist, "He can't be saying that!" This is what the LORD says: "Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your soul”…And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.” Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. Jeremiah 6:16 NIV, Ephesians 4:26,27 NLT [Click pic to listen to his full session or go to 22:00 and following regarding anger.] Comments: norepcom@gmail.com
Portals Devotional: Great Present for your New Year!