Proverbs 19:11 Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.

As much anger as there is in the world today, we as Christians have to strive to be different.  We need to strive to be full of God’s love for others!  We also have to be intentional about not allowing everything to offend us!  It seems as though everything is an offense to everyone and if there isn’t already something there then someone will manage to create something to be offended over!  

1 John 4:7-8 says, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.  Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.”  We are commanded to love God and other people.  Our mission is to live lives that will draw others to Him!  If that is not our mission then something is drastically off.  Our mission cannot be, “I need to prove I am right about everything!”  There’s too much out there that we can argue about!  We need to pray for people who are following the lies of satan and allow God to work in their hearts.  Arguing only stirs up anger, both in you and in the other person.  Let God work on others while you work on loving people and having a godly attitude and love for your everyday life.  God loves you more than words can say and He wants that love to flow out of you into an angry and hurting world that is so lost!

We need to also be people who take a stand for what is right, but that has to begin in our own lives.  You cannot hand out harsh judgments and show the love of God!  You must learn to hate the sin and what it is doing to that person’s life but not act in a hateful way toward them.  Show them the love of God!  Dare to be different.  God loves that person, they were created in His image and satan is doing his best to destroy them with their sin.  Allow that thought to motivate you to have compassion for them and to show them that there is a better way.  

If you struggle with anger, just know that there’s no shame in getting help learning how to process your anger.  A lot of times there is a deeper-rooted problem where there has been an extreme hurt earlier in your life that you have buried and never dealt with it.  Hurt will turn into anger if we stuff our feelings.  I have learned that when I am hurt deeply by another person to pray all the way through it that God will help me to process it as I go and not allow anger to consume me over it.  Your hurt is real and it will not just go away, you need to process those feelings so they don’t turn into anger.  

I would like to encourage you to spend more time with Him this week and ask Him to show you how to love other people more.  Ask Him for ways that you can show His love to others on a daily basis, at home, at work, at school, and wherever you may go!

Quote:  “You can’t be a smart cookie if you have a crummy attitude.”  ~ John Maxwell

“How much more grievous are the consequences of anger than the causes of it?  ~ Marcus Aurelius