Today's post is by guest writer Joanne Beckley.
Leviticus 19:18 You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD.
All of the following can be true of you or me. Please take time to read and consider.
Simmering Anger (bearing a grudge) is fed by emotions. Your mind has forgiven a wrong done. You have said the right words, but your heart continues to feed on your hurt. Why? In truth, full forgiveness continues to be withheld. No longer do you feel close to that sister or brother in Christ, and those feelings are destroying any trust toward that person. The days and years go by but simmering anger and remembered hurt is still there. Sadly, by now, only you are suffering.
When a person does not let go of real or imagined hurt, repeated, unrealistic, negative thoughts and speech will begin to develop. There will always be a suspicion or the conviction that someone is going to hurt you. And so someone does...and again, another does. Hurt upon hurt, real or imagined, will be fed by a broken angry heart. It is happening and you feel friendless and isolated. Your vision of all reality becomes darkened, like the drop of ink that discolors the entire glass of water.
Thankfully, God believes and knows your heart and mind can again begin to beat in the united way He has intended. One can indeed completely let go of self, repent, and then truly forgive and forget. Look upward and let God heal a simmering angry heart.
Eph 2:2-6 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly [places,] in Christ Jesus,
Ask yourself:
Is my anger based on assuming the best motives?
Is it driven by spiritual concern for others?
Am I grieving in unrighteousness for others and trying to remedy?
Can I trust God to heal me? To no longer live as a child of wrath?
Letting go of simmering anger is a matter of choice. I will choose to let go!! I will refuse to mentally rehearse past hurts. I will actively seek to heal any breach between us. I will learn again the joy found in loving my brothers and sisters in Christ so that we will be alive together with Christ.
Eph 4:1-3, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Eph 4:26 Be angry yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,
Ps 4:4-5 Tremble, and do not sin; Meditate in your heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah. Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, And trust in the LORD.
Eph 4:31-32 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.
Col 3:12-14 And so, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. And beyond all these things [put on] love, which is the perfect bond of unity.
Joanne Beckley
Leviticus 19:18 You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD.
All of the following can be true of you or me. Please take time to read and consider.
Simmering Anger (bearing a grudge) is fed by emotions. Your mind has forgiven a wrong done. You have said the right words, but your heart continues to feed on your hurt. Why? In truth, full forgiveness continues to be withheld. No longer do you feel close to that sister or brother in Christ, and those feelings are destroying any trust toward that person. The days and years go by but simmering anger and remembered hurt is still there. Sadly, by now, only you are suffering.
When a person does not let go of real or imagined hurt, repeated, unrealistic, negative thoughts and speech will begin to develop. There will always be a suspicion or the conviction that someone is going to hurt you. And so someone does...and again, another does. Hurt upon hurt, real or imagined, will be fed by a broken angry heart. It is happening and you feel friendless and isolated. Your vision of all reality becomes darkened, like the drop of ink that discolors the entire glass of water.
Thankfully, God believes and knows your heart and mind can again begin to beat in the united way He has intended. One can indeed completely let go of self, repent, and then truly forgive and forget. Look upward and let God heal a simmering angry heart.
Eph 2:2-6 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly [places,] in Christ Jesus,
Ask yourself:
Is my anger based on assuming the best motives?
Is it driven by spiritual concern for others?
Am I grieving in unrighteousness for others and trying to remedy?
Can I trust God to heal me? To no longer live as a child of wrath?
Letting go of simmering anger is a matter of choice. I will choose to let go!! I will refuse to mentally rehearse past hurts. I will actively seek to heal any breach between us. I will learn again the joy found in loving my brothers and sisters in Christ so that we will be alive together with Christ.
Eph 4:1-3, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Eph 4:26 Be angry yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,
Ps 4:4-5 Tremble, and do not sin; Meditate in your heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah. Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, And trust in the LORD.
Eph 4:31-32 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.
Col 3:12-14 And so, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. And beyond all these things [put on] love, which is the perfect bond of unity.
Joanne Beckley
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