Pastor Dave Ginter
Response: Anger is to the human spirit what cancer is to our bodies. Anger consumes us. But is it wrong to get angry? Of course not! The Bible days God gets angry (and also claims God never does wrong. By extension, then, getting anger cannot be wrong in and of itself). Numbers 14:18 says that while it takes allot to get God angry, it happens! The Bible even encourages us to get angry. Ephesians 4:26-28 (The Message) says, Go ahead and be angry. You do well to be angry—but don’t use your anger as fuel for revenge. And don’t stay angry. Don’t go to bed angry. 27Don’t give the Devil that kind of foothold in your life. In other words, don’t feel like a failure if you get angry over a wrong or an injustice. I often remind people sexual abuse of children, starvation and systems of government that leave people in perpetual poverty should get you angry. If it doesn’t, there is something wrong with you! The question isn’t about getting angry. Anger is a human emotion created by God for us to experience. But anger is something we were designed to get over. You see, the real issue here is what I do with anger once I have it. The above Ephesians scripture says to deal with it on the same day you get it. Anger allowed to fester will consume your joy, your effectiveness and your witness for Jesus, no matter how justified you feel. Here is how to get rid of your anger. Colossians 2:6 says, And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. How did you accept Jesus as Savior? By FAITH. How does this scripture say, therefore, we continue to live in Him? By FAITH. Everything we do as Christians, initiates with faith (Hebrews 11:6 reminds us that without faith it is impossible to please God). So how do we forgive? By FAITH. Too often, we think we have to feel forgiveness before we can offer forgiveness. Not so! We forgive by faith, not feelings. Our faith is the engine that drives the car of our life. Feelings come along like a trailer. Your life must be propelled by faith (the engine); feelings (the trailer) cannot get you very far. My brother, Gary, once told me that God gave us our dad so that we would be able to deal with anyone else who came along. In our dad, we had already met the most difficult man in the world! He betrayed our mother through adultery and then abandoned her to die from cancer. He abused his children emotionally. He stole from companies we co-owned with him. He wrongfully sued us twice, costing us huge amounts of time, resources, and most importantly, increasing the tensions between us and him. Throughout all of this, I learned the key to keeping my love and relationship alive and healthy with dad. How? Here is what I did and here is what I recommend you do: 1. Tell God all about it. If there is someone in your life you cannot or you refuse to forgive, start by getting down before God. Confess God’s greatness and your need. Then tell God EXACTLY how you feel about this person you can’t or don’t want to forgive. Explain what happened between you two and how it’s made you feel. God knows the details already; sharing, however, is both therapeutic for you and restorative for your relationship with Jesus, whom you love. 2. BY FAITH, take the positive action of asking God to Forgive this person. You won’t feel any different probably. But that’s OK. Your feelings will eventually catch up to your positive action. 3. Act IN FAITH, doing the actions which demonstrate you have forgiven this person. When I asked God to forgive my dad, shortly after I graduated from College, no angels appeared singing “Joy to the people in the deep blue sea, joy to you and me”. No feelings of relief flooded over me. Nothing changed that I could see. Nothing changed that I could see. Yet everything changed between my dad and me. Immediately, I stopped avoiding my dad. I started finding creative ways to serve him and meet his needs. I did what by faith I believed. Eventually, I did feel different. I was able to hug and kiss dad on the cheek. What changed? Not my dad! He went to his death promoting havoc and chaos. So what changed? I changed. God changed me! Eventually my feelings of anger were replaced with feelings of love towards my dad. I did not do this (no way I could have “worked up” these feelings of forgiveness and affection). God changed me when I asked Jesus to forgive my dad. Why go to all the trouble of forgiving a man like my dad or a person like the one you are angry at? Why forgive when it feels so good to seethe in anger? Here’s why: your lack of forgiveness rarely hurts them and never hurts them nearly as much as it hurts you. Your anger pollutes not only your relationship with the one you’re mad at. It also negatively impacts all others in your life. The ones you love feel the tension of your hatred. That is why you need to be a dispenser of forgiveness, not a retainer of anger. Anger destroys like cancer. But loving forgiveness covers over a multitude of sins. Commentsbritt gudowski 12/17/2009 21:36
I needed that more than i even knew. sherie 01/01/2010 14:24
Dave, would you agree that forgiveness does not necessarily mean I want to be around or interact with the person I have forgiven. For example, I may forgive the drunk driver that killed my friend, but I don't want to be their friend. Also, forgiving someone does not eliminate the need or pursuance of justice or natural consequences to the persons actions, which led to the need to forgive them. correct? sherie Pastor Dave 01/01/2010 19:41
Sherie, I am in complete agreement. After forgiving, it does not naturally follow that you will necessarily become fast friends with the one you forgave. Your comment will be posted after it is approved. Leave a Reply | AuthorPastor Dave Ginter. When commenting, please add your Country of Origin. Thanks. CategoriesArchivesDecember 2010 |
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