Anger

August 24, 2007

Anger, it is an interesting thing. Is it right or wrong? Can you say without any qualm that anger is wrong? Be careful. If you do, then remember that Jesus cleared the temple in anger. If it was wrong, then Jesus sinned. Anger, like other things is an emotion. Emotions are neither right or wrong. Is it wrong for a man to have a desire for a woman? That emotion is right if he is married to her. If he is married to some one else, it is wrong. Anger, if it is right is an OK thing, and if it is handled in the right way.

A classic example of wrong anger and what it can do is shown in the story of Esther. As mentioned yesterday, Mordecai would not bow to Haman who was second to the King. It irritated him so much that he could not think straight. He was in a position of authority, but listen:

Est 5:11-14 BBE
(11) And he gave them an account of the glories of his wealth, and the number of children he had, and the ways in which he had been honoured by the king, and how he had put him over the captains and servants of the king.
(12) And Haman said further, Truly, Esther the queen let no man but myself come in to the feast which she had made ready for the king; and tomorrow again I am to be her guest with the king.
(13) But all this is nothing to me while I see Mordecai the Jew seated by the king's doorway.
(14) Then his wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, Let a pillar, fifty cubits high, be made ready for hanging him, and in the morning get the king to give orders for the hanging of Mordecai: then you will be able to go to the feast with the king with a glad heart. And Haman was pleased with the suggestion, and he had the pillar made.

How often do we look at the one bad thing in our lives, and then not look at the good things. I know from my own personal experience teaching a class one time. I got evaluations from the students one time. Of the 12 student reviews, 11 of them were positive and told me of the good I did in educating the students. One student however said I was the worst teacher he had and would never take a class from me again, even if they paid him to do it. Did I concentrate on the good ones? Nope, I was angry because of the one bad one. It is a natural reaction. No one likes to be criticized , especially when there is nothing constructive about it. Like Haman, there was no real reason for my anger. Unlike Haman, I thought things through. Haman did not, and it was his end. The very gallows that he had built to hang Mordecai on, he wound up getting hung on himself. His anger was not the good type.

Check your anger the next time. Do you really have a reason to be angry? Do you want it to destroy you?