Is anger in the driver’s seat of your heart? This weekend Pastor Steve Andres kicked off a new series called YOU’RE NOT THE BOSS OF ME.
John 2:15
So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the moneychangers and overturned their tables.
On more than one occasion, the Bible tells us that Jesus was angry. What does the Bible say about the ROOT of anger, how it goes WRONG, and how to get it RIGHT?
1) The ROOT of anger is love.
Anger is a healthy response to protect something or someone that we love. When we find ourselves getting angry, it is an indicator of what we love and value.
2) Anger goes WRONG when our loves are out of order.
Do we value the same things that God values? When our loves are disordered, our anger is disordered as well.
Anger gets LAZY when I love something less than I should. When our love is lacking, we become indifferent to the things that matter to God.
Anger gets CRAZY when I love something more than I should. Our overreactions and fits of rage are often rooted in an exaggerated love. Crazy anger lashes out and often attacks people rather than the problem itself.
3) To get anger RIGHT, we have to own it, aim it, and end it.
Regardless of how our anger is expressed, we have to own the fact that we feel angry. We ask ourselves why we are angry, and evaluate if this anger is healthy. Righteous anger is aimed carefully at addressing the root of the problem, with a goal of redeeming the person involved. Our bodies and hearts are not designed to sustain anger for long, but because we trust in God’s fair judgment, we can find an endpoint for our anger.
So great is the love of God that on the cross, God’s anger was focused in a way that would destroy sin, but save sinners like you and me!