Today’s
scripture:
“A soft answer
turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger.” (Proverbs 15:1)
“The sacrifice of the wicked is an
abomination to the Lord, But the
prayer of the upright is His delight.” (Proverbs 15:8)
These
two verses out of Proverbs relate so well to what we are going to be talking
about here. The first verse shows the gentleness and mercy within our choice of
attitude on how we will handle anger. The second verse shows that the Lord is
not pleased and glorified if we come to Him having something against someone
else. Which leads us on to the next topic that Jesus is teaching on the Sermon
on the Mount in Matthew 5:21-22.
Today we are looking into the third topic on the Sermon on the Mount that
Jesus is teaching, which is “Self-Control”. In Matthew 5:21,22, Jesus is reminding people
about the 6th commandment, “you shall not murder” found in Exodus
20:13. And if they do murder, they will be in danger of the judgment.
But
then in verse 22, He takes it even further and says, “…whoever is angry with his brother without cause shall be in danger of
the judgment. And whoever says to his brother ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the
council. But whoever says ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire.” Anger
in of itself is not taking on the physical act of murder, but Jesus is saying
even a hint of hatred is just as bad as murder.
Do
you understand what this means? If it is true that that kind of anger is just
as bad before you even consider the physical act, means you are just as guilty
as someone like John Wayne Gacy, or a Jeffery Dahmer, or a Ted Bundy or a
Charles Manson. Before you dismiss this as some over the top thing, have you
truly considered how high of a standard Jesus puts in His laws? Do you truly
understand that our hearts are that wicked and deceived? See… Jeremiah 17:9, Isaiah 64:6, and Matthew 15:19
Consider
this next time you get angry with someone. The thoughts you have in your mind
when someone cuts you off in traffic or spreads a rumor about you or even hurts
someone you love very much! Consider those thoughts that you have in your mind
are guilty of murder and are deserving of hell for even thinking of it.
Now,
let me quickly clarify something. If you were to have someone commit a crime
against you that is deserving of a strict judgment, you would be correct and
just and righteous in your anger to what they have done. But my question is,
are you entertaining the thought of seeing them suffer or do you want justice
to be served? In the beginning of verse 22 Jesus says “…angry with his brother without cause…” There has to be a just
cause to have a righteous anger There is a place for anger (see Matthew 21:12-13). But, wanting
justice to be served is as far as it should go. Vengeance is the Lord’s to
repay (Hebrews 10:30).
I
understand all that I have said is very hard to hear and kind of in your face
type of talk but we truly need to understand this. As I have said before, I’m
guilty of this as well and I am preaching to myself. I need to hear this.
So,
now that we know what scripture says about what our hearts are really like and
what we truly are capable of, how can we have self-control in the midst of
this? Having self-control is just a choice. Sometimes choosing self-control is
just getting a way for a time to calm down. Start to pray for the person you
are angry at (Matthew 5:44). Pray mercy for them. God’s Word says, “Blessed are
the merciful for they will be shown mercy” (Matthew 5:7). This means as we sow
words of mercy, God will do the same back to us! That is His promise!!!
Self-control
is, well, controlling self. It’s having the attitude that you are going to sow
goodness of love and mercy to someone even if you think they don’t deserve it. It’s
going against your flesh of what you want and doing that what God wants. That
is leading your heart to do what is right. Prov. 15:1 says to speak tenderly to
them. When your wife makes you angry, say I love you with a gentle kiss on the forehead.
Reflection:
I
know there is a lot in this that goes against how we like to think of ourselves,
but don’t just take my word for it. Take God’s Word for it. Go into His word
and ask Him to reveal truth about all this. And consider for a moment that He
is correct about our hearts. I know it’s hard in the moment of passion to fight
against our flesh and do just the opposite and pray goodness and justice for
our enemies but that truly is what we need to do if we want any blessings from
God and our worship be pleasing to Him.
Challenge:
The
next time you get angry, read this again and start trying to look at the person
or situation, as God would see it. Can you picture the Lord’s hands tightly squeezed
around that person’s neck with the look of vengeance in His eyes? He loves the
one your angry at. He wants to forgive you as well but as long as you have a
hold of their neck He can’t be pleased and bless you.
-Doug McGowan
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