Of the seven deadly sins, anger is possibly the most fun. To lick your wounds, to smack your lips over grievances long past, to roll over your tongue the prospect of bitter confrontations still to come, to savor the last toothsome morsel, both the pain you are given and the pain you are giving back–in many ways it is a feast fit for a king.
The chief drawback is that what you are wolfing down is yourself. The skeleton at the feast is you. – Frederick Buechner
Is anger controlling your life?
Do you say and/or do things you regret because of anger?
Does anger keep you from loving God and others?
Do you have an angry wall around yourself?
Would you like to be set free from this bondage and the control it has over your life?
Watch this 3 minute video.
You have a choice to make
You can choose to be angry for the rest of your life.
You can continue to seethe, brood, and develop bitterness.
You can hold onto this dangerous emotion that often threatens to take control, leading to violence (against yourself and others), emotional hurt, mental stress, and spiritual damage.
You can remain in a 3-legged race with unforgiveness and hobble through life together.
OR
You can choose to forgive with God’s Help
and be set free from bondage to uncontrolled emotions.
Forgiving and letting go of your anger will free you of a heavy load of bitterness.
“The first and often the only person to be healed by forgiveness is the person who does the forgiving. When we genuinely forgive, we set a prisoner free and then discover that the prisoner we set free was us. “
Lewis Smedes
You may be stuck in lies about forgiveness
Lie: Forgiveness needs to be earned.
Truth: Repentance is vital to accepting forgiveness, not to giving forgiveness.
Lie: If I forgive them/him/her then it means what happened was ok.
Truth: Forgiveness does not deny the seriousness of sin.
Lie: Forgiveness lets the offender off the hook.
Truth: Forgiveness is often the only way to settle a debt.
Lie: If we forgive our abuser we need to trust him/her again.
Truth: Forgiveness is letting go of a debt that can not be repaid. It does not mean we have to trust the offender. Trust must be proven. Love is unconditional, trust is conditional. Grace is a deliberate decision to give something good to someone who doesn’t deserve it.
Unforgiveness is a toxin
Read “The Cleansing Power of Forgiveness” by Dr. Don Colbert.
05/2006 Enjoying Everyday Life, Joyce Meyer Ministries Magazine.