Take a moment and imagine Jesus is thinking about you. If you were gut-level honest, what do you think he feels when you come to his mind? What do you think he would want to say to you?
Many Christians are convinced that their sin and failure are what catch God’s attention. Therefore, they assume he feels angry, frustrated or disappointed with them. They imagine Jesus would give them some kind of advice, correction, or rebuke to help them get it right. That simply isn’t true (Dr. David Benner).
Often, when we feel troublesome emotions like anger, irritation, anxiety, worry, fear, jealousy, envy, guilt and shame we simply allow those emotions to dictate our choices and behavior. We kick the cat, text our child for the 20th time that day, avoid that difficult conversation, work harder to prove we are good enough, fight with our spouse or eat things we know we shouldn’t.
Experiencing anger and conflict in life is inevitable but responding to those experiences in helpful ways is not. In fact, research tells us the number one reason relationships fail (work relationships, marriages, parent-child relationships, friendships, our relationship with God) is due to unresolved conflict.
“'In your anger do not sin.’ Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold (Ephesians 4:26-27).” When we nurture anger we're inviting the devil to come in. Therefore, Psalm 4:4-5 says, “In your anger do not sin. When you are on your beds search your hearts and be silent. Offer right sacrifices and trust in the LORD.” In this blog we'll take a close look at the first step in learning how to search our hearts when we're angry.
Contact Gary Heim
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Contact Lisa Heim
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