Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Anger...and Forgiveness

I came across this very interesting way to look at anger:


"Of the Seven Deadly Sins, anger is possibly the most fun. To lick your wounds, to smack your lips over grievances long past, to roll over your tongue the prospect of bitter confrontations still to come, to savor to the last toothsome morsel both the pain you are given and the pain you are giving back – in many ways it is a feast fit for a king. The chief drawback is that what you are wolfing down is yourself. The skeleton at the feast is you."

WOW!!! Now, that's an explanation!!!


A friend and I have been talking lately about being angry at others...and forgiving those who wrong us. I gave her a "for instance" in my own life as to how I had to forgive someone...several someones....for hurting me. If any of you look into your past, you are probably going to think of somebody who has hurt you, or made you angry over something they said, or did. You don't want to hear the details...but God used the death of my dear mother-in-law to bring me to a point of forgiveness. This scripture is what I think of when I ponder on what happened:


And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28 (KJV)


Psalms 37:8 tells us that we must "cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil." Do you understand what that means???? It certainly does not mean to "do unto others as they have done unto you"!!! It means....do not worry yourself with trying to do evil for evil...don't think it's your place to get back at the person who harmed/hurt/lied/stole/cheated/etc., etc., etc......that is up to the Lord...not us. Plus....please do not think that if you forgive somebody that you are condoning their actions. That was me for a long, long time....in my poor feeble way of thinking, I was so afraid that if forgave that the other person would think they could just continue with their mistreatment. It's not up to us..it's up to God...


Romans 12:19-20 (NLT)
Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, “I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” says the Lord.
Instead, “If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads.”


Did you get that last part? Have you ever heard the old saying about "killing somebody with kindness"? That's what I think this verse is saying. It is definitely not easy to be kind and sweet to somebody who has wronged you...but...if you do....this scripture says it is like putting burning coals of shame on their heads. You will be doing what the Lord has instructed you to do....and it will be up to Him to bring your "enemies" to shame!!!


Plus...our Bible says that if we don't forgive others...that God won't forgive us....and, don't you think that means forgiving ourselves, too? Now.....that one isn't an easy task to accomplish!!! My Mom and I had this very conversation Saturday afternoon...about being more able to forgive others than ourselves. If God forgives us and tosses all our sins into the sea of forgetfulness...and as far as the east is from the west...then, we have to do the same!!!!


Ephesians 4:30-32 (KJV)
And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.


In His Love...and with mine!!!

4 comments:

  1. I'm just glad our Saviour is a forgiving GOD. Think about it where would be if God had not forgiven us.

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  2. Eph 4:30-32 speaks pretty plain doesn't it???
    Thank you for being faithful to God with your blog!
    Love you bunches,
    Mis

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  3. your blog gave me a lot to think about. I'm so bad about holding onto things, and not letting go, I have a problem with holding a grudge for a long time, and there are some I don't think I've ever been able to let go of....I'm bad about forgiving and not forgetting, thats bad, huh? ...thats not healthy.....I'm gonna try to pray about it and do better.

    by the way, I like your new little change on here.......your rose and stuff at the top :-)

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  4. Amen sistah!

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Kind words are like honey—
sweet to the soul and healthy for the body.
Proverbs 16:24