“...it is not easily angered...” -1 Corinthians 13:5
Anger is not necessarily a bad thing. Jesus got angry plenty of times at people while he was still on earth. So why does it say here in the “love chapter” that loves i not easily anger. The anger here is referring to a selfish anger—an anger that someone has wronged you or robbed you of your glory. It’s inward focus.
Jesus’ anger was always out of concern for others. He was angry at sin because of how sin hurts people. He was angry when people sinned not to condemn them but because how those people were enslaved by sin.
Are you hothead? When someone makes a joke at your expense do you get immediately offended? Perhaps your anger is inward focused. Pray and ask God to help you to focus not on yourself but on others. When we begin to focus outside of ourselves, it becomes much easier to forgive and to bear with others.
If you find it difficult to forgive people, remember God forgave us. If he was easily angered, we’d all be in trouble. But because God is slow to anger, we are able to enjoy His forgiveness. As such we should mirror God’s love as others wrong us or offend us.
How is your disposition? Do you get angry easily or are you slow to anger?
No comments:
Post a Comment