[To start off, I want to state a purpose here to do devotions with sisters in Christ. So many issues within our faith require us to examine Scriptures as they pertain to women from numerous angles - whether directly or indirectly. Examples are the following: Submission to husbands, what church leadership roles for women look like based on the Word, interactions with other sisters in Christ, motherhood, courtship, living single, marriage, and so much more. So, please feel free to interact with helpful passages in the Bible as we reflect with one another for grow]
Mark 3:1-5
And He (Jesus) entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a withered hand. So they watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. And He said to the man who had the withered hand, "Step forward." Then He said to them, "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?" But they kept silent. And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other.
It doesn't seem Christian-like to get angry for a believer. Yet we see many accounts that explained Jesus got angry, Paul got angry (one time with Barnabas), and others got angry. But does it mean that we are not walking in love when we become angry? Does it mean we are not walking in love when we express anger?
No. Thank God for His Word when It shows us example after example in addition to wisdom for living. Had I not known Jesus' anger by His Word and examples of believers getting angry in Acts and other places of the Bible, I could possibly allow myself to fall into unnecessary guilt by expressing that one emotion, which can easily become sinful if parameters are not established biblically.
James 1:20 tells us that the wrath of man does not work the righteousness of God. So anger, if escalated above the necessary threshold it would take to convey a much needed message and expression, can become wrath and produce sin.
As a wife and mother of 2 teens/a 6 year old/a 20 year old, I face several battles that many families face. My concerns, disappointments, and challenges often tempt me to express anger in a way that causes me to have to go before the Lord for repentance as well as a hungry and thirsty request for cleansing strength with total change. A number of imaginable issues faced in the shoes of one who must submit while also managing a household can often find herself struggling against temptations of rage. (Many people say it should be easy. I am one who believes it is better to battle the sin - even in a struggle - rather than embrace that sin as sin opposes the work of the Lord within us and can be a symptom of total disconnection from Him if it's willfully embraced.)
So, I often ponder the question of "What does love look like when accompanied with anger?" because, with practical challenges that we face, I still seek to know that my ways are pleasing to the Lord. And I often also try examining whether I am being realistic without risking my faith in my perfect Lord or whether I am to defy our day-to-day realistic issues by aiming for a perfect mood in every situation.
Of the many solutions that I see in God's Word to allow myself the experience of anger (without condemnation) while still knowing confidently that I am walking in love, I reflect on these:
1. Jesus became angry by people's hardness of hearts and willfulness. And He expressed anger in some of the things He said in response to many (mainly to the Pharisees) while expressing in actions when overturning tables of the money changers in God's "house of prayer", the temple. Mark 11:15
2. Sometimes the apostles expressed anger. During so many journeys to spread the gospel, they ran into a number of problems - whether from outsiders or among each other - that pulled at their emotions and allowed themselves to express those emotions without feeling like they had to identify with sinful rage.
3. As a family woman, I find that distressful situations push me toward seeking the Lord's intervention and also His comfort. He certainly comforts mourning and is actually tender toward tears, as He has demonstrated and expressed in His Word. But the Lord is also with us in our anger with instructions. Because He is the One Who keeps His born-again children from falling, we have the confidence to know that He will keep us in a number of ways through anger:
a. He will calm us down with His Word spoken in our spirits. (Bringing back the Word to our remembrance to put out the fire of any anger that can erupt.)
b. He will instruct us in the same way on solutions as a result of the anger.
c. And if anger explodes into sinful levels, He will chasten us as His children to correct us. (Hebrews 12)
Sisters, feel free to contribute with anything on your hearts. Certainly, there is more revelation that can be shared among us. What's your experience with anger in a Christ-abiding love walk and what passages of the Word do you stand on to continue taking heed to His Word - even when you're angry?
Mark 3:1-5
And He (Jesus) entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a withered hand. So they watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. And He said to the man who had the withered hand, "Step forward." Then He said to them, "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?" But they kept silent. And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other.
It doesn't seem Christian-like to get angry for a believer. Yet we see many accounts that explained Jesus got angry, Paul got angry (one time with Barnabas), and others got angry. But does it mean that we are not walking in love when we become angry? Does it mean we are not walking in love when we express anger?
No. Thank God for His Word when It shows us example after example in addition to wisdom for living. Had I not known Jesus' anger by His Word and examples of believers getting angry in Acts and other places of the Bible, I could possibly allow myself to fall into unnecessary guilt by expressing that one emotion, which can easily become sinful if parameters are not established biblically.
James 1:20 tells us that the wrath of man does not work the righteousness of God. So anger, if escalated above the necessary threshold it would take to convey a much needed message and expression, can become wrath and produce sin.
As a wife and mother of 2 teens/a 6 year old/a 20 year old, I face several battles that many families face. My concerns, disappointments, and challenges often tempt me to express anger in a way that causes me to have to go before the Lord for repentance as well as a hungry and thirsty request for cleansing strength with total change. A number of imaginable issues faced in the shoes of one who must submit while also managing a household can often find herself struggling against temptations of rage. (Many people say it should be easy. I am one who believes it is better to battle the sin - even in a struggle - rather than embrace that sin as sin opposes the work of the Lord within us and can be a symptom of total disconnection from Him if it's willfully embraced.)
So, I often ponder the question of "What does love look like when accompanied with anger?" because, with practical challenges that we face, I still seek to know that my ways are pleasing to the Lord. And I often also try examining whether I am being realistic without risking my faith in my perfect Lord or whether I am to defy our day-to-day realistic issues by aiming for a perfect mood in every situation.
Of the many solutions that I see in God's Word to allow myself the experience of anger (without condemnation) while still knowing confidently that I am walking in love, I reflect on these:
1. Jesus became angry by people's hardness of hearts and willfulness. And He expressed anger in some of the things He said in response to many (mainly to the Pharisees) while expressing in actions when overturning tables of the money changers in God's "house of prayer", the temple. Mark 11:15
2. Sometimes the apostles expressed anger. During so many journeys to spread the gospel, they ran into a number of problems - whether from outsiders or among each other - that pulled at their emotions and allowed themselves to express those emotions without feeling like they had to identify with sinful rage.
3. As a family woman, I find that distressful situations push me toward seeking the Lord's intervention and also His comfort. He certainly comforts mourning and is actually tender toward tears, as He has demonstrated and expressed in His Word. But the Lord is also with us in our anger with instructions. Because He is the One Who keeps His born-again children from falling, we have the confidence to know that He will keep us in a number of ways through anger:
a. He will calm us down with His Word spoken in our spirits. (Bringing back the Word to our remembrance to put out the fire of any anger that can erupt.)
b. He will instruct us in the same way on solutions as a result of the anger.
c. And if anger explodes into sinful levels, He will chasten us as His children to correct us. (Hebrews 12)
Sisters, feel free to contribute with anything on your hearts. Certainly, there is more revelation that can be shared among us. What's your experience with anger in a Christ-abiding love walk and what passages of the Word do you stand on to continue taking heed to His Word - even when you're angry?
