Anger can ruin relationships but it can also prevent us from developing deep and meaningful ones as well. Fear and sadness run deep behind anger but so can hurt. Clinical psychologist, Paul Welter, used to say that our hurts left unresolved lead to anger and bitterness. Unresolved hurt often motivate many to live a life of anger. They are not happy unless they are demonstrating their anger! But Jesus offers a better way. No one was hurt like Jesus. The Creator of the universe, humbly became one of us, yet was rejected, tortured and executed because of His love. What a role model for us. He understood that He would be misunderstood. He knew the depth and depravity of our sin. As Creator, He sis not force anyone to respond to His call for forgiveness. We must freely choose His way as He chose to suffer for us. There will be a day when the time to choose has run out. His anger for injustice and rebellion will be displayed on those who were full of hate or indifferent to His call. May you and I deepen our response to His love while we have time.
“Your soul is not the same thing as your emotions. We live in a world where we’re encouraged to think that our feelings dominate our lives and that we are powerless over them. But even contemporary research indicates the power God has placed in the soul to be master of our emotions. In one study, researchers presented subjects with pictures of angry faces. Half of the participants were told simply to observe the faces. The other half were instructed to label the emotion on each face. The simple act of labeling the emotion reduced its emotional impact on their own moods. It also reduced the activation of the brain region associated with strong primitive emotion.” - John Ortberg, Soul Keeping: Caring For the Most Important Part of You
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