I Look at All the Angry People

In Ephesians 4, verses 31 and 32, we see a list of certain emotions that we would do well to eradicate from our souls:
31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. 32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you.

Verse 31 lists some of these attitudes and behaviors - and verse 32 gives the antidote - the power of Christ's love, exercised in forgiveness.

It is certainly no fun to walk around thinking you have been wronged.   And, if we allow that emotion to permeate our consciousness, we will harbor resentment toward other people, and indeed act upon that powerful, destructive emotion.  And, while we can hurt others in the process, we end up hurting ourselves - our bitterness becomes a barrier to the life and freedom that God wants us to have.  If we harbor anger, it will produce harmful fruit.  The Lord has given us His resources to overcome anger - the power to make the choice to resist it, and by His Spirit, to eliminate it.   But, we have to be sensitive to the Lord when He points out that we are in the danger zone.   And we replace sinful, angry thoughts with the truth of God's Word, which will set us free!

In Hebrews chapter 12, the writer delivers a warning to us about the destructive power of bitterness:
(13) make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed. 14 Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: 15 looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled;


It is another unspeakable tragedy, which had caused quite a few fearful moments across Southern California, as law enforcement officials believed themselves to be targets of their former comrade as he sought to exact revenge for what he believed to be an incorrect dismissal from the police force.   For days, Christopher Dorner, who posted a "manifesto" on Facebook that promised "unconventional and asymmetrical warfare" against law enforcement officers and their families, was at large, and allegedly ended up taking the lives of 4 people before his life apparently ended yesterday in the mountains in California in a cabin to which he apparently set fire.

He had written, "Self-preservation is no longer important to me. do not fear death as I died long ago."   He said he felt the LAPD fired him unjustly a few years ago, when a disciplinary panel determined that he lied in accusing his training officer of kicking a mentally ill man during an arrest.  The case may be reviewed.

Tragic.  And, a reminder to us that anger is not something to be trifled with.   And, if we are harboring bitterness in our hearts, while we may not be preparing to go on a shooting rampage and harm other people, we are still dealing with the same force - and the same source of evil - that has caused more spectacular instances of violence.   Instances that were highlighted in the President's State of the Union address, as families of victims of gun violence were present in the chamber last night.   Mr. Obama's recognitions were the most passionate moment of the night.

And, while there has been a solid amount of discussion about regulating the sale of firearms after the Newtown tragedy, truth is, the guns would have not been fired there, or Blacksburg, or Tucson, or Aurora, or Columbine, if there were not some significant issues of the heart - a seething anger, a blatant disregard of the lives of others.   People believing that somehow they had been wrong and that doing harm would somehow level the scales, or perhaps give them the illusionary satisfaction of revenge.   

How often do we, when we feel we are wronged, lash out in some way - again, not to these extremes, but we set out on a course that will result in harm - to others and to ourselves.  Maybe not physical harm, but in the form of broken relationships, verbal insults, a less-than-congenial atmosphere in the workplace.   Participating or orchestrating a competition for control.  The end result of bitterness and anger is destruction - the wages of sin is death.  

So, don't play with it - do not harbor sinful anger in your heart.   Use the spiritual resources available to you to eradicate the root of bitterness from your soul.   And, we can be challenged to identify people around us that may be absorbed by the power of anger and attempt to counteract it with the love of Christ.  One of the root causes of violence in our society is a deep-seeded anger, and when it is acted upon, people get hurt - and it takes more than a government program; it takes a recognition that were are dealing with spiritual forces, that there is a serious moral component, and we know that we have the effective antidote to the anger that penetrates the souls of men and women.