God and My Emotions: Devotions From Time of GraceSample

Less Angry, More Gentle

Does an angry person live in your house? Does an angry person live in your mind?

Anger makes for interesting TV and movie plots, but it is a terrible internal acid that corrodes your soul. It won’t drain itself. You must choose to let it go. You are not a prisoner of your emotions. You belong to Christ now, and His Spirit in you is mightier than your old sinful self.

Adam and Eve’s oldest son resented the second son. That resentment, unchecked, morphed into hatred, then an evil plot, and finally first degree intentional homicide. God gave him a wake-up call while there was still time: “The LORD said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.” (Genesis 4:6,7) He didn’t master it. It mastered him.

Take a moment right now and take inventory of your own angers. You can’t wipe away your memories as though they were computer files to delete. But with God’s strength you can choose to let go of your anger. You, too, must master it.