Godly or Destructive Anger: Discovering the Difference
Notes
Transcript
What’s the big deal with sinful anger?
Why does God care?
Why should I care?
1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,
2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—
5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
God cares about sinful anger because it destroys the things he treasures most.
26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and give no opportunity to the devil.
29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.
32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
What is the process of anger?
Recognition: I’ve been wronged.
Instinct: building of tension/heat within us.
Impulse: the desire to act out on the instinct.
Decision: mental commitment to a course of action.
Action: the follow through.
Some questions to ask yourself about the Instinct:
Am I being reasonable?
Is my anger based in love?
Some Questions to ask yourself about the Action:
Will my actions build up/protect the other person, or am I tearing them down?
Will my actions bring peace and unity, or will they cause a deeper rift?
What do my actions say about the Lord I serve?
4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant
5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;
6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.
7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Godly anger flows out of love, and drives loving action.