Attacking Your Anger

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ATTACKING YOUR ANGER SLAYING THE IN YOUR

INTRODUCTION “All the rage”

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Recognizing Sinless Anger

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"Be angry, and do not sin": do not let the sun go down on your wrath, 27 nor give place to the devil. Ephesians 4:26-27 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. Ephesians 4:31 SLAYING THE IN YOUR

Let’s be clear The Bible offers no option of acting out anger. As a matter of fact the Bible forbids us from even indulging it in our minds. SLAYING THE IN YOUR

Sermon on the Mount Matthew 5:21-22 "You're familiar with the command to the ancients, 'Do not murder.' (22) I'm telling you that anyone who is so much as angry with a brother or sister is guilty of murder. Carelessly call a brother 'idiot!' and you just might find yourself hauled into court. Thoughtlessly yell 'stupid!' at a sister and you are on the brink of hellfire. The simple moral fact is that words kill. SLAYING THE IN YOUR

Other Scripture In Galatians 5:20, fits of rage are listed as sins of the evil nature. James 1:19 So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; 20 for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. SLAYING THE IN YOUR

Other Scripture Proverbs 29:11 A fool vents all his feelings, But a wise man holds them back. Psalms 37:8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; Do not fret; it only causes harm. SLAYING THE IN YOUR

We live in an age where we are told “don’t hold things in”, “learn to vent”. So we see the evidence of it in road rage, school rage, bike rage, employee rage, etc. Because of so much “outrage” psychologists are rethinking this idea of venting rage. SLAYING THE IN YOUR

What about the Anger of Jesus? John 2:13-16

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Two Problems in the Temple D. Ecclesiastical Extortion F. Shop in the Court of the Gentiles SLAYING THE IN YOUR

Righteous Anger The difference is that Jesus was angry at injustices done to him (as before Pilate or Herod, or beaten and mocked; even when he was backed to a cliff to be murdered yet escaped. His anger was a righteous anger directed at injustice against people and against God. SLAYING THE IN YOUR

Sadly we have plenty of anger about our own issues, but little about the things that concern God and the issues He cares about. We feel very little emotion over starving or homeless children, persecution of Christians abroad, or people dying without hearing the gospel. Righteous anger is never about ourselves; it’s always forgetful of self.

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Another Example Mark 3:1-5

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Wrong Focus He was frustrated because the people didn’t get it - they didn’t comprehend what the Hebrew laws were truly about. They didn’t comprehend compassion and a redemptinve love that could override the find print of Hebrew law.

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RENOUNCING SINFUL ANGER SLAYING THE IN YOUR

Back to Ephesians Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. Ephesians 4:31

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Don’t Nurse Your Anger Anger at some point is a choice. The moment we take note of an angry impulse and refuse to sent it away, we’ve put the first twig in the nest.

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"Be angry, and do not sin": do not let the sun go down on your wrath, Eph 4:26 Clear all your accounts before the day is over and to start each day with clean books. SLAYING THE IN YOUR

Don’t Rehearse Your Anger One minister approached a lady who had been in divorce recovery counseling for many years. She was still spouting off all her rage and bitterness about the husband who abandoned her for another woman. He politely asked, “Why can’t you move on with your life, why can’t you let go of you anger?” She said, “Because it is the only story I have.” SLAYING THE IN YOUR

We need to avoid “any root of bitterness” Hebrew 12:15 in our lives so that we can have another story instead of the one we keep bringing up. “If we become angry it’s because we had anger already within us, and we allowed someone else to pull it out. We are like a little factory of anger, keeping a steady supply on hand.” Henry Brandt. SLAYING THE IN YOUR

Don’t Converse Your Anger Ephesians 4:29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. We need to also be careful with how those around us speak. Proverbs 22:24 Make no friendship with an angry man, And with a furious man do not go, 25 Lest you learn his ways And set a snare for SLAYING THE your soul. IN YOUR

Don’t Disperse Your Anger Proverbs 19:11 The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger, And his glory is to overlook a transgression. We are familiar with child “temper tantrums” but we must understand that there is such a thing as adult “temper tantrums”. SLAYING THE IN YOUR

Reverse your Anger Learning the art of reversing anger. If someone makes us angry, we offer love in return. If someone threatens harm, we feel compassion for the forces that made him or her that way. Instead of retaliation, we offer redemption. SLAYING THE IN YOUR

Romans 12:20 Therefore "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head." 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

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CONCLUSION

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Grace isn’t the natural way to behave; it’s the supernatural way. The world should be able to expect Christians to do something beyond the natural thing. To be able to take all the wrong and evil and persecution the world can dish out, and to meet it with a double dose of love and compassion - this is the visible evidence of God. It’s the most powerful witness you can possibly offer. It’s a living picture worth a thousand SLAYING THE words. IN YOUR