The JOY of the Lord is our strength!

JOY! Yet Christians chose to hold onto ANGER to keep them strong. But strong in what?

So many times, I held my anger like I was holding onto a rope around my spouse’s neck. Thinking if I let go of my anger, I was letting him off the hook for his offense. And that was NOT going to happen. Because of my anger, my silent treatments, (NO THIS IS NOT WHAT ZIPPED LIPS MEANS) my locking myself in my room, my ignoring his questions, my snarky comments, my posture, and glare……….that was his punishment. And God forbid he did not get the full punishment…….God forbid he would come home and fall asleep straight away, OBLIVIOUS that it was punishment time, well then I would just have to stay fuming mad all night so I could pick that right up the next morning and carry out his sentencing!

Sound about right? When we stay mad to punish someone else, when we are finally satisfied they paid the price and we can lift our anger off them and ‘makeup’?? Or we wait until they grovel at our feet, begging forgiveness. Then we consider forgiving them. Where is that in the Bible? Where does it give us the right to punish another with anger, or only forgive when they beg?

“Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured until he should pay back all he owed. Matthew 18:32

The Word of God actually gives a clear OPPOSITE direction. We are to cancel debts owed because God canceled ours. We are to forgive because God forgave us.

LOVE is not easily angered; it keeps no record of wrongs. 1 Corinthians 13:5

EVIL KEEPS SCORE! Evil keeps records!!! Evil makes us want to punish with our anger. It’s called manipulation. And God says we must not do this.

There is a huge difference between self-righteous anger where we get angry at sin and fight in the spiritual realm, and anger to punish and CONTROL the person.

And that is what it boils down to. When you hold onto your anger past the point where you are keeping it alive instead of letting it go, you are trying to control and manipulate the person, so they conform to your needs.

This is a sin and must be repented for. Confess your heart to God and learn how to recognize this sinful behavior that destroys relationships.

Standing with you,
Sheila Hollinger

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