Tag Archive | anger

Anger and The Art of Forgiveness

AngerHave you ever found yourself so angry that you began to shake violently or you want to hit or throw something? Anger can be violent and very disruptive to your life, as well as, those around you.

For when we hold built up anger against others or ourselves, it lingers and tends to grow into a full-blown pity party and you seem to fly off the handle at the little things in life.

Let’s see what scripture has to say:

  • Ephesians 4:31 “Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice”.
  • Proverbs 15:1 “A soft answer turns away wrath but a harsh word stirs up anger”.
  • Proverbs 16:32 “Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty…”.

Let those scriptures sink in. Repeat them. They sure say a lot, don’t they? But why would it be so important for God to tell us these things within the Bible?

Sing Out Loud

Because, He knows that this is not a simple task for us. Our human nature tends to hold onto grudges. We like to think that if we treat the individual differently, they will feel our pain or if they can sense our anger towards them, they’ll get the point. However, nothing could be further from the truth.

When we have a quick temper or say something that we shouldn’t, then it tends to fester as guilt and becomes a vicious cycle. When we hold onto pain, anger and unforgiveness; all it does is cause sickness and unhappiness within our own lives. We are clearly told in Colossians 3:13, that we should “Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you so you must forgive others.”

Now, we all know that we are not perfect and we certainly make mistakes. There was only one perfect person that ever existed and that was Jesus. So, the best thing we can do is learn how to control anger and learn the art of forgiveness, His way. It is imperative that we make HIM a big part of the equation. It is completely for our benefit, not for anyone else.

The absolute best thing you can do when you find yourself angry or unwilling to forgive is to STOP YOUR THOUGHTS AND HOLD YOUR TONGUE. Immediately, ask God to help you overcome the situation, release it to Him for transformation and ask for Him to fill you with peace that surpasses all understanding. It is also best to hold your tongue rather than to regret your words later. For it is written that the power of the tongue brings life or death.(Proverbs 18:21)

Word of Caution…the more you attempt to release things to God, the more negative thoughts you will encounter.  Do not allow yourself to relive the situation over and over again. Just keep stopping the thoughts, ask God to take them off your shoulders and to be filled with His indescribable peace.

Forgiveness

Stand against your opposition by giving it to God and filling your mouth with praises for Him! You will notice that the burdens begin to lift and your anger, pain and frustration will subside. Things will begin to roll off your back and you won’t sweat the small stuff either.

God is bigger than any problem you face, that I can guarantee you!

Note: Please disregard any advertisement you may encounter as the author does not endorse them. Thank you.

Kicking Desperation

Feeling DownGod doesn’t work on our time schedule nor does He do things our way. A really good example of this is someone going to the casino. When someone is desperate, it is so easy for them to think that by going to the casino, they could pray to God and expect a miracle to happen.

However, this couldn’t be further from the truth. God is not mocked. (Galatians 6:7) He knows that the person is trying to get Him to do something that is not according to His will. If God didn’t guide you to go, then, God is not obligated to make things happen.

See, when we try to take things into our own hands, we think of a lot of ways to “try” and make things happen. The problem with this thinking is that we are to “cast all our cares upon Him”. (1 Peter 5:7) So, when we take things into our own hands, it is like telling God that we can handle the problem ourselves. And, God being the gentleman He is lets us “try” to take care of it.

Unfortunately, we find that most of the time, things don’t go according to plan. In fact, we find that the very things we are trying to fix get worse. This is when we desperately cry out to God asking the “Why” questions. A lot of times we even start to get angry with God when it wasn’t His fault; it was ours.

God wants us to have the absolute best; a life filled abundantly. However, He does have a stipulation. He wants to be in FIRST PLACE; leaning on Him for all things. He wants us to love Him, seek Him, and get to know Him in a very intimate way. Then, and only then, you will find yourself prospering in all areas of life. You won’t have to “try” to make things happen; they just will. (Matthew 6:33)

Drowning

We serve a supernatural God. It takes one small move from Him to change your life around in the most amazing ways. So, the next time you have a problem; don’t “try” to solve it on your own. Instead, immediately give it to God for His amazing transformation. His ways are much higher than our own, so don’t limit His ability to provide for you nor how long it should take. It will come when you least expect it and in a way that you would never have imagined. And, when it happens, there won’t be any question to WHO provided it.

SO REJOICE!

NO MATTER WHAT YOU FACE, GOD HAS YOU COVERED!

Note: Please disregard any advertisement you may encounter under this posting as the author does not endorse them. Thank you.

Give Up Perfectionism

perfect-erasersWhether you are an employee who wishes to do a good job for your employer, a housewife who takes care of the kids and household, or a student who tries to study really hard for those good grades…everyone wants to be loved and do a good job. They want to be recognized for their hard work and dedication. There’s nothing wrong with striving to do a good job BUT what happens when all that striving bogs you down and you end up making mistakes?

That’s when you can become guilt-ridden, frustrated and upset…which just increases stress and worry. Then the stress and worry can become illness which in turn begins a cycle of defeat. And on and on and on.

It is so important to realize that none of us are perfect! Everyone has things about themselves that they would like to change. Nobody has it all together, no matter how hard they try. If you constantly strive for perfection, you will end up worse off than if you would had just taken a step back, breathe and then move forward. We all want to do the best job we can, in all situations. However, the stress and worry that’s caused by perfectionism is not healthy and will create such confusion in your life, you’ll begin a downward spiral that is quite difficult to overcome.

“But God is not a God of confusion but of peace.” (1 Corinthians 14:33)

imperfectpersonperfectgod

Stop beating yourself up! Stop holding onto your mistakes or failures AND…Let it go. You can not control what happens from those mistakes. However, you can release the mistakes, apologize for the mistakes and let the spirit who lives within you control the outcome. God has given us a fresh start everyday and he still has an amazing plan for your life. Don’t miss out on His goodness because you keep trying to control everything by being perfect. Perfection fails but God does not.

“And great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and they put them at his feet, and he healed them all.” (Matthew 15:30) 

So today, let go of your failures and pain. Let go of your stress and worry. Let go of your burdens. Lay it all at Jesus’ feet and rest in the one and only perfection…Jesus! He loves you right now. He wants to heal you so you can experience the abundant life He has in store for you. Let it all go and see the amazing things He will do!

Note: Please disregard any advertisement you may encounter under this posting as the author does not endorse them. Thank you.

Setup NOT Setback

Broken PiecesOne of the greatest stories ever told in the Bible is about the young man, Joseph. God gave him a dream at a very young age. However, he wasn’t given the “how” or “when” of the dream.

Joseph’s life was a whirlwind of events. He was his father’s favorite son, which unfortunately, lead to his brothers’ jealousy. I’m sure Joseph didn’t realize that this jealousy would lead him to being thrown into a pit, sold into slavery by his own brothers, and being thrown into jail for something he didn’t commit.

Think what must have ran through his mind. He must have wondered about “why” bad things keep happening to him. Why did his brothers do this? Why would God allow this? What happened to the dream?

Here he was a young man that received an incredible dream from God Himself. You can only imagine his excitement. The Bible even tells us that he was so excited, he shared the dream with his family. Even though Joseph was excited, his family…especially his brothers were not enthused about it.

Best yet to comeJoseph found himself going through terrible things in his life. The more he tried, the worse things became. I’m sure he had no idea that he would hit every brick wall imaginable just for doing what was right.

So, what was his response to all the “so called” setbacks? He trusted God. No matter how bad things got or how many setbacks he encountered, he trusted God. As Joseph said in Genesis 50:20, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.

Joseph never could have imagined that he was going to be one of the most powerful men of his time. He had no idea that he would end up saving so many lives; including his own family. The very brothers that sold him into slavery.

Yet through it all, Joseph remained faithful to God. There is so much we can learn from his story. No matter what adversity you encounter, no matter how bleak your circumstances look right now…know that God is setting you up for something amazing.

Just like Joseph, we need to stay focused on God who promises that all things will turn out in our favor. We will be victorious and successful against all the odds. It doesn’t matter what is happening in our lives right now. It doesn’t matter if we can’t see a way out of our situation.

We might not know the “how” or “when”; but we can be absolutely certain that our FUTURE IS GOING TO BE BETTER THAN WE COULD EVER DREAMED! GOD PROMISES IT AND IT WILL BE SO!

SIDE NOTE:

From time to time, I share song links to help you stay motivated through difficult times. Here is another wonderful tune that I hope helps you stand strong when everything seems to be going haywire. It is from the Fireproof movie called “While I’m Waiting”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3b2jw1rjBc

Please disregard any advertisements you may encounter on this website as the author does not endorse them. Thank you!