God's Answer to Anger Management.

by R. Douglass Mahaffey     

     God places the responsibility of dealing with our emotions, our joy, our sadness and our anger solely on us, when we lose control of things. When we take our day and our frustrations out on others, especially when they are not to blame for how we feel, we choose to lose our temper. Free will takes over and leads us into sin. God says in His word that He has given us a way out of temptation, through the power of the Holy Ghost. It is up to us to take that avenue and flee from the evil wiles of the devil. However, most of the time, our problems are the most important ones to us. Sometimes, we have a hard time seeing past our own noses and our own circumstances, and we lose control.
     We forget about the depraved and sinful individuals that we were before we accepted Christ. It was that nature that we gave into that made us realize that we were dead in our sins and needed God's forgiveness through Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. How soon we forget when the newness wears off. How soon we go back to being "the old man/woman" that we were before salvation. Colossians 3: 8-13 talks about that old man, and how we are to put off that old nature. Read that scripture here.
Then, the Apostle Paul also writes about the sinful nature of our "old man/woman" in Ephesians 4:22-32, here. The Apostle Paul knew the feeling of walking by sight and not by faith. He was, after all, the biggest persecutor of all Christians in his day. When he finally met God on Damascus Road to Jerusalem, he saw the tragedy that befell his victims of the torturous persecution that he dealt to them. This caused Paul to "put off" the old Saul (His name before becoming a Christian), and to "put on" the new man, Paul. One could speculate that he changed his name because of all the evil that he had brought on Christians.
     The scripture about the introduction of Saul to Paul is written about in Acts 13:6-10. You can read that passage here. Paul chose to see what was clearly in front of him, through the revelation of the Holy Ghost, as he rebuked Elymas when Barjesus, a false prophet sought Paul and Silas in order to hear the word of God. Elymas sought to turn Barjesus and the deputy, Sergius Paulus away from faith in Jesus. Paul told Elymas that his way of thinking was of the devil and was the enemy of all righteousness.
     Here's some food for thought. Every time we put our circumstances and our desires, however important and serious they may seem, over the will of God, our impatience and insubordination towards the Holy Ghost brings more hostility to whatever situations we surround ourselves with. 

R. Douglass Mahaffey - Founder and Publisher of The Wise Conservative.