Tuesday, August 30,
2016
Control your temper, for anger
labels you a fool. Ecclesiastes 7:9(NLT)
We are going to take a look at what
has been referred to for many centuries as The Seven Deadly Sins. We begin with one of the most common – anger.
We encounter so much anger in
everyday life that most of us have become somewhat desensitized to it. Everywhere you go, and in every realm of
existence there is anger – some is miniature in its impact, some wildly
excessive. And some of it is our own!
·
It
is a fact of life in business places and schools.
·
The
media – TV, Internet, Cell Phones – all filled with anger.
·
Wherever
you find yourself you cannot miss the road rage of the highways, lines at
stores, and even in churches, families and close relationships.
Anger is “number 6” on the list
commonly known as the Seven Deadly Sins (lust, envy,
gluttony, sloth, greed, anger and pride).
Our question today is
Why Is There So Much Anger?
In order to begin to talk about why
there is so much anger you have to address the question’s forerunner – where
did anger begin?
A number of years ago I watched a
History Channel presentation called “The Seven Deadly Sins”.[1] The episode on anger gave God credit, starting
in Genesis 6 where God’s wrath (anger) destroyed all the earth. But the very first reference to anger in
Scripture predates the flood; it’s in Genesis 4, where God asked Cain why he
was so angry.
When it was time for the harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as a
gift to the Lord. Abel
also brought a gift—the best portions of the firstborn lambs from his flock. The Lord accepted Abel and his gift, but
he did not accept Cain and his gift. This
made Cain very angry, and he looked dejected.
“Why are you so angry?” the Lord asked Cain. “Why do you look so dejected? You will be accepted if
you do what is right. But if you refuse
to do what is right, then watch out! Sin
is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.” Genesis 4:3-7
Cain responded to God’s questioning by
acting out his anger; he killed his brother!
We have been angry and killing each other in various ways ever since. There are so many references to angry persons
in Scripture that I stopped counting after 100.
One side-road about anger in the
Bible: There is a difference between the
anger (wrath) of God and human anger.
God’s anger is always righteous; man’s is not. There is a different quality to God’s anger
than just being ticked-off.
Anger can be quick in the hot-tempered
or short-fused personality. But it can
also be slow and deeply-formed. However
it happens there is always the danger of having it master you. But God says to master it, subdue and keep it
at bay like a rodeo cowboy lassoing an angry bull.
God’s instructions at this point may
help us understand that our anger is inevitable, it will happen. But that is all the more reason to examine
our attitude often to see if this sin is creeping up on us.
For You Today
You do not know if anger will present itself
today. All the more reason to be on
guard. They are not called deadly
sins for no reason at all!
And the person who doesn’t learn to master this one will wind up a fool.
Go to VIDEO
NOTES
[1]
©
1996-2010, A&E Television Networks. All rights reserved.(Premiered Dec 29,
2009 – January 4, 2010)
[i]
Title Image: Hieronymus
Bosch (circa 1450–1516) or follower [Public domain], via Wikimedia
Commons
