“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or or sister will be subject to judgment.” - Matthew 5:21-22
Jesus talks to us about the seriousness of anger, so what are some ways that we can put this into practice? Realize that in God’s eyes, we are guilty of the worst crime against man -- murder -- when we are angry with our brother, when we have a contemptuous attitude, when we slander our brother, or when we are critical of our brother. This is murder in God’s eyes.
Realize the times that we are most vulnerable to the sin of anger or contempt for our fellowman. Here are a few:
- When we are tired, we tend to get angry a lot easier.
- Discouragement. How often have we seen great athletes trying their best to win, then everything falls apart near the end of the game. All of a sudden fights break out. Why? They’re discouraged about how things are going; they lose their cool and fall into the sin of anger.
- Someone you love hurts you. A spouse finds out their mate has been cheating. Anger rises up and everyone loses his or her cool.
- Fear. Someone pulls out in front of on the freeway and you feel your life is threatened. We tend to be lose our cool and call that person names.
Here’s the point. Keep your guard up when going through a time of stress, times of great fatigue, times of great discouragement, when someone hurts you and you are afraid.
When you find yourself in a situation and your temper begins to rise, and you want to unload on somebody, ask yourself, “Do I want Jesus to hear this?” I assure you, He will. Then say, to the Lord, “Father, help me get a hold of myself.” And when you blow it – and all of us do – seek God’s forgiveness. And if you unloaded on someone and they have felt your wrath, always apologize for losing your cool. There is nothing wrong with confronting a person who has done wrong. That is “tough love,” but losing our cool is always wrong in God’s eyes.
