Anger

Today we continued with 'Riddle's of the Wise' looking at the practical sayings of Proverbs. I often find myself after screwing up, saying "Aw well you live and learn" wonder is it a universal saying? Though proverbs is giving an alternative to this and teaching us to learn and live, which really is a better way to go.

Proverbs 16:32 Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city. What I like about the writer is he realises the emotions we have and doesn't ignore them as if we become robots when we become followers of Christ. He also realizes the courage, strength and discipline that it takes to control them. Not easy! I find myself more often than not falling short when it comes to controlling anger.

Jesus once talked about anger "Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca,' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell." “Raca” is Aramaic for “empty-headed one”; the insult is about the same as the one that follows it, “Fool!” —.

Have you ever read scripture like this and pretend you haven’t just read what you read. I mean you block it out. Call someone a fool and off to hell you go. Gehenna is one word used for Hell. It comes from the Hebrew Gey-Hinnom, literally "valley of Hinnom." Its a real place, south of the old city of Jerusalem where the city's rubbish was burned. At one time in history, live babies were thrown crying into the fire to be sacrificed to an idol called Moloch. This place was so despised by the people after King Josiah abolished this sick practice so they made into a rubbish heap. Bodies of diseased animals and executed criminals were thrown there and burned. Listen if you continue with anger and it results in you calling and swearing at humanity with anger, the result is your life could end up like Gehenna – the rubbish dump or looking at it another way, Gehenna could end up taking over your life and making it stink.

Back to the learning to live point. It's worth checking the heart regularly to see if we are living with anger. You see when we lose it we find ourselves saying another phrase "I don't know what came over me" well it's not that it came over you, it usually comes from within. How's your heart? When someone asks for bread are you giving them a stone? Are you carrying anger into relationships? Here's one I find alot, people leaving another Church in anger. They might have a lid on it but it usually ends up in an environmental disaster with toxic leaks.


Don't keep a lid on it, deal with anger, get shot of it as quick as possible.