Do you ever have those times when God seems to hit you in the gut with a scripture, a sermon, or a devotion? You know what I mean: you are struggling with some issue or some sin and then you read or hear something from God’s Word that really sets you straight (and kind of creeps you out when it speaks right to whatever it is that’s on your mind).
I had that happen to me twice in the last two days. I won’t share what yesterday’s revelation was (it’s just not that interesting), but today’s revelation is worth sharing because I think that many of us could learn from it.
Yesterday I received an email that really made me mad. I was feeling pretty good, sat down to go over my messages and have a cup of coffee and got kicked in the stomach, so to speak. A friend really reamed me out in a totally unfair way (from my perspective). He assigned to me all kinds of motives that I did not have, misrepresented things I had said, and said some pretty cruel things. Let’s just say that grace was not the order of the day. I went through the typical gamut of emotions: shock, hurt, remorse, outrage, and finally the one we usually end on: anger. The more I thought about it, the angrier I got. Having slept on it I was more and more convinced that I had not done anything to deserve the kind of letter that I received and the more I replayed the events the more angry I got that I was on the receiving end of this guy’s bad day. I stewed in my anger: “What right did he have to say those things in that way, especially without first talking to me civilly?” I just knew that I was totally justified to be angry for having been treated the way I was and thought of all the things I wish I had said back to him that I didn’t.
Then I read my devotion for the day from John MacArthur’s “Strength for Today”. The summation said this: “Jesus is the greatest example of gentleness: He became angry when God the Father was dishonored, but not when He, the Son, was.” The last sentence in the devotion says this: “It’s so easy to strike back when someone criticizes or attacks us, but that’s not the way of the gentle Christian trying to walk worthy. The only time we should let the lion in us roar is when God’s honor is at stake. Jesus forgave those who crucified Him. How can we do any less to those who hurt us?”
Ouch. God’s Word, right to the gut. Here I was, angry because my precious honor was impugned. I was angry because I was done wrong (in my opinion). I was stewing in my anger because someone had treated in a less-than-Christian way. What a selfish, prideful person I am!
Jesus constantly had his motives questioned: they accused him of working for the devil. He constantly had his words misrepresented: witnesses were found to twist his words before the Sanhedrin. Jesus was personally attacked when all he wanted to do was to seek and save the lost: yet he went like a lamb to the slaughter. And here I was in a tizzy because of a nasty letter.
The only time Jesus really showed anger was when God was being attacked: when the Temple was being used for greed and when people were being misled by the religious leaders. And even when he was being nailed to a cross he said, “Father, forgive them.” He never got angry when his pride was hurt or he was unjustly treated. And yet we get so mad for the slightest offense. Mad used to mean “crazy” (as in the Mad Hatter); maybe that’s not such a bad usage. Most of the time when we’re mad we’re simply acting irrationally.
And here I am walking around in a funk because someone fired off a nasty email, something I’ve done a thousand times. For all I know this guy, a friend, was just having a bad day. He could have been speaking out of some deep hurt or anger. I might have touched a nerve that I didn’t even know he had. And even if he was 100% wrong, why should my anger get so stirred up over an insult to me when Jesus was willing to suffer death for my sake?
I read somewhere that you can tell a lot about a person by what they laugh at and what they get angry about. I need to get over getting so mad over personal insults and more mad when God is dishonored. I’m sure I’m not alone in this.
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