PREVIEW! My next book: “Anger Management–Jesus Style”
PREVIEW of my next book: “Anger Management–Jesus Style“
My friends! I’m so excited that next month/August, my next book will be published! It’s titled Anger Management–Jesus Style
One of the main misconceptions from my childhood was: “all anger is wrong—I will refuse to feel any anger.” Then I heard for the first time at a seminar: “The first flash feeling of anger is neither right nor wrong; how you manage your feeling is right or wrong.”
Stunned, I wondered, “Can that be? Have I entertained the wrong ideas about anger all these years? I thought Christians aren’t supposed to even feel angry.”
Then the Lord caused a portion of Scripture to jump off the page: “Be angry and do not sin.” (Ephesians 4:26 ESV).
Had I read correctly? Did the verse actually say: “be angry”? The Bible confirmed I could feel angry, but I needed to respond appropriately as Ephesians 4:26-27 further explained: “Do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.” Misusing anger gives Satan an opportunity to fuel destructive attitudes and responses like bitterness, resentment and actions like hitting or screaming.
The truths in Ephesians were further affirmed in an examination of the first record of named anger in the Scriptures, Genesis 4:6-7:
The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.”
God doesn’t rebuke Cain for being angry. We might have expected him to say, “Now, Cain, you shouldn’t be feeling angry, you are sinning. Your brother is a good guy, and you should be thrilled I’m pleased with him. Stop feeling sorry for yourself and stop feeling angry. You’ve already blown it.”
Sometimes we think God is condemning us when we feel angry. But instead, God tells Cain in essence, “You haven’t sinned, but you are being tempted to take destructive action. You can resist and not sin. Your feeling of anger is revealing a corrupted heart motive. Deal with your heart motive. It is still possible for you to enjoy my acceptance.” In the case of Cain, his heart motive was jealousy and rebellion. Cain’s initial response was not sin, but the destructive choices he made to kill his brother and hide the murder were entirely sin.
Why didn’t God condemn Cain’s initial angry reaction, which seemingly demonstrates Cain’s hatred for his brother? Yes, his hate was sinful as the opposite of love, but anger is not the opposite of love. The feelings of anger and love can exist side by side.
This insight of “the feelings of anger and love can exist side by side” is only one of the many insights you’ll find in this new book.
True transformational self-control comes from not just resisting sinful anger but knowing the underlying reasons why resisting is difficult.
Would you like to grow in your ability to resist anger when you encounter temptation, the inadequacies of others, misunderstandings, lack of other’s cooperation, criticisms, demands, disappointments, and shame?
You can! Whether you feel anger, rage, frustration, annoyance, irritation, or a hardened heart.
Jesus leads the way to reveal how to love others, deal with conflict, not take the reactions of others personally, and so much more. You will study both the humanity and godhood of Jesus in this book like never before.
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What do you think about the idea of “the feelings of anger and love can exist side by side”?
How does Jesus demonstrate godly reactions to irritating situations?
