Anger, A Natural Emotion

The story was told of a little boy who asked his daddy how wars begin.
Here's the exchange:

"Well, take the First World War," said his father. "That got started when
Germany invaded Belgium."

Immediately his wife interrupted him: "Tell the boy the truth. It began
because somebody was murdered." The husband drew himself up with an air of
superiority and snapped back, "Are you answering the question, or am I?"
Turning her back upon him in a huff, the wife walked out of the room and
slammed the door as hard as she could.

When the dishes stopped rattling in the cupboard, an uneasy silence
followed, broken at length by the son when he said, "Daddy, you don't have
to tell me any more; I know now!"

There's nothing wrong with anger. It's a natural human emotion. The Lord
became angry (Mt. 21:12). Add to that, the apostle Paul told us to be angry.
"Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath" (Eph.
4:26).

When we see injustice, we become angry.

When we observe evil, we become angry

When we or someone we love is mistreated, we become angry.

Even when we fail, we might become angry with ourselves.

There are a number of occasions when we find that the natural emotion is
anger. That's fine, provided that anger is channeled properly.

Repressing your anger will make you physically ill.

Taking your anger out on those you love will make them ill.

Someone once said, "Anyone can become angry. That is easy. But to be angry
with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, and in the
right way--at is not easy."

Inappropriate anger is something God tells us to avoid.

"Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking,
be put away from you, with all malice" (Eph. 4:31).

"But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy
communication out of your mouth" (Col. 3:8).

Just a reminder this morning for us to keep our words and our actions in
check.

I hope you have a wonderful Wednesday!

For previous devotionals, visit www.NeilRichey.com.