The Weeds of Anger

"Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured." — Mark Twain

For our Sunday school class we are reading the book "Respectable Sins" by Jerry Bridges. It has been an interesting and challenging book to read because it forces me to take a hard look at myself. The idea is that it tackles sins we often tend to overlook, those things we allow to fester and harbor in our lives.

The last two weeks that thing we've had to look at is anger. And it's been a hard journey. As humans, I think we like to try and rationalize things and find other answers. That's what this study has been all about — pushing us to a deeper level of faith by pushing us to think about the behaviors in our every day lives.

The second chapter on Anger, called the "Weeds of Anger," focused on what happens when we let anger fester. When it stays with us, when we can't let it go and it does long-term damage. One of my favorite quotes about this goes something like this: "Holding on to anger is like drinking poison and hoping it kills another person." All it does is damage us and keep us from living the life God would have for us.

What I appreciated was the three things Bridges gives us, as believers, to think about when trying to keep these weeds of anger out of our lives.

1. We have to remember God's sovereignty. One of the toughest things for believers is reconciling God's promise to look after us and prosper us with the rough patches in life. One of the things that helps when we encounter these times is to remember that God has a bigger purpose for these things in our lives, even and especially times of challenge. I love the way Paul articulates this promise in Romans: "Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us." (Romans 5:3-5)

2. We pray that God would help us to let it go. Right now one of the most popular songs is "Let It Go" from the movie "Frozen." It won the Academy Award as best song, and has become a mantra for legions of fans. It should be our mantra, too, when we bring these struggles to God in prayer. We can't do it alone, but thankfully we don't have to. Prayer is our most powerful weapon.

3. We forgive others, we let go of our anger, because God has forgiven us of a debt so much greater. My favorite part of the chapter was the way Bridges interpreted the parable of the unforgiving servant, relating it to us. We forgive, we let go of our anger because it is nothing compared to what God has forgiven us. It is nothing compared to Jesus' sacrifice on the cross.