Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. 1 Cor. 15:58

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Sunday, June 26, 2011

Day 8: Anger Leads to Hate....

Ephesians 4:26-- And "don't sin by letting anger control you".  Don't let the sun go down while you are still angry for anger gives a foothold to the devil.

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Ah--- anger.

That most disliked and possibly most used emotion.

No one likes it when someone is angry at them, but it is so easy to become angry and stay angry with someone----- Even yourself.

There are a million ways to be angry with yourself.
*You think you say the wrong things.
*You aren't a size 2.
*You say something you regret.
*You aren't "perfect"
*You broke someones heart.
*You think you let God down.

And the hard part is that its actually easier to forgive someone else than ourselves.

Anger--in any form-- is dangerous.  Yoda was right when he said, "Fear is the path to the Dark Side.  Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to Hate.  Hate leads to suffering"  And it's not always you who does the suffering for your fear... and for your anger.... and for your hate.

I know this isn't really uplifting and encouraging today... but it's something I think we all need to think about.  Our actions have a direct relationship with everyone around us.  Our hate... our love.  Our anger... our graciousness.  Our fear... our giving.

Hate and anger fester like some sort of weird little bump on our skin (um.. ewww).  Take a splinter than has wedged itself under our skin (just like a little annoyance we might have).
Maybe a:
*Gossipy friend.
*An unattractive habit of our spouse
*Scoffing at ourselves in the mirror

Then, after a while if we don't deal with the splinter, it grows... gets infected.  The anger rises...
*Will my friend just stop talking!
*I can't STAND being around my spouse!
*Ug!  I detest my body!!

By that time, if not dealt with, the splinter has gotten so infected, so nasty that it's big.. and green... and ugly (as hate often is.  There is nothing pretty about hate.)
*A Friendship ended by harsh words
*A marriage ended
*Non-existant self-esteem

The Fear, Anger, and Hate are usually followed by another emotion... another dirty one.  Suffering.
*We suffer because we lose a close friend and now have no one to talk to
*The kids suffer because our marriage ended
*Our self-worth suffers because we think more about some photoshopped celebrity than ourselves

Anger is a normal emotion. It is!  We all have it.  But we have got to be watchful to forgive whatever it is that has caused our anger (be it another person, ourselves, circumstances, etc) and not let it control us.  We can't dwell on it.  If we do, it will start eating at us.

Don't let anger control you.  I know its hard... I KNOW it's hard.  Believe me.  But it will make us happier in the end.

God Bless you!!!!!

Kelly

3 comments:

  1. Hi Kelly. This is a really good post. You have covered it in a very practical manner. Its good how you sort of mapped the progress of unchecked anger. Thanks for the reminder - its something I have to work on.
    God bless
    Tracy

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  2. You keep hitting me between the forehead with these. <3 Another great post.

    Even Jesus got angry, but he dealt with it when it happened. Wouldn't it be nice if we could all just confront things as they happen instead of letting them fester?

    I LOVE your new blog look! Gorgeous!

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  3. Jennifer, thanks :) I love this template too. I've thought about changing the other one... again... but I change it too much. God keeps hitting ME on the head too lol. And yeah, Jesus got angry and dealt with it. He didn't let it get to him. That is a great example.

    Tracy, thanks for taking the time to comment :) It means a lot.

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