Today, I completed an eight week Bible study on anger, what an awesome study. It is so amazing that the Truth of God's Word is sharper than a two-edged sword. Moving through the process of sanctification is often painful and exhausting, this study proved to be equally challenging for me personally.
When the Bible says "Be angry and sin not" what it means is "when angry, do not sin." We will be angry because anger is a true emotion that God experiences. But when we become angered, we must learn to quickly remove ourselves from the anger and forgive and let it go.
The mark of a true believer is one who walks in obedience to the commands of Christ. Christ tells us that if we get angry, we can't stay there--we must take every thought captive to the obedience of Jesus Christ and yield to the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome our anger.
"The anger of man(or woman in my case) does NOT accomplish the righteousness of Christ." I really believe that forgiving and forgetting are both a gift from God, one that can not be attained apart from the indwelling Christ.
The real lesson that I have learned these past eight weeks is this: "It is not what has been done to me, but what has been done for me on the cross that makes the difference."
I thank God that He is freeing me from the evil spirit of anger that can set itself up against the true knowledge of Christ in my life. My hearts desire is to please God and live a life that is worthy of the calling on my life and honoring this great salvation that He has granted to me through faith in Christ alone!
I challenge you to think about what it means to be a vessel of mercy, again, and make a mercy list of all of the people in your life that you need to give mercy to. God delights to show us mercy and gives us the same amount of mercy that we extend to others. Do not be angry, turn from anger quickly, forgive others and yourself and let it go. We can walk in the freedom that is available to those who believe. Christ came to set the captives free, and for those whom He set free ---they are FREE INDEED!
1 comment:
Awesome post Leanne. I remember you saying this, ""It is not what has been done to me, but what has been done for me on the cross that makes the difference," a few posts ago and it really is SO true. I've thought about that a lot since then and it has helped me to move past a couple of things I've been hanging on to. I wouldn't say I'm totally 'there' as far as forgiveness and mercy, but it is something I am working on, especially since the situation isn't going to change...this sounds like a great study. Thanks for sharing about it.
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