Changed from the Inside Out
There has been a display of terrible hatred in our country. So, we ask the question “How does God look at anger? When the Bible tells us that God “is slow to anger” it means that He is patient beyond man’s capability. But there are many instances when God’s anger is revealed. The prophet Nahum preached that God would take revenge on evil. “[He] will not at all acquit the wicked.” History often reflects that the wicked stay wicked. Who are the wicked? Those who break the law of God, and we have all broken God’s law.
While God’s anger is always perfect, man’s anger is sinful. It leads to bitterness and hurt. Man’s anger is a destructive power. Can we overcome our anger, instead of constantly being overcome by it? Yes! With God’s help. Peter’s anger was channeled into boldness for Christ. Paul’s anger was channeled into boldness for Christ. Paul’s anger against Christians was replaced with a burning passion to spread the Gospel.
Man may think he gets away with unrighteousness, but nothing escapes God’s knowledge, nor does man get away with anything. Sin leads to repentance or retribution. When God’s anger is stirred, He often uses the power of nature to demonstrate His pending doom. However, God’s plan is to have fellowship with the human race, not conflict.
Anger makes us lash out at others, destroying relationships and revealing our true nature. The history of the human race is largely the history of its anger. But anger flees when the Spirit of God fills our hearts.
When you believe in Christ, Christ works a miracle in you. You are permanently purified and empowered by God Himself. The message of Jesus to the religious person is simple: It’s not what you do. It’s what I do. I have moved in. And in time you can say with Paul “I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.”
Do you see what God has done? He has deposited a Christ seed in you. And as it grows, you will change. It’s not that sin (anger) has no more presence in your life, but rather that sin has no more power over your life. Temptation will pester you, but temptation will not master you. What hope this brings.
God pledges to help those who stop trying to help themselves.
Philippians 1: 6 says: “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”
So, ask God to help you to control the temper and anger and if you do God will change your from the inside out.