“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell. “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.
“He made me so angry.” I’ve often heard this excuse to justify an angry outburst. Of course I got angry and hurt others, they will say, because something unjust was done to them.
W.F. Haley writes about how common it is for people to display this attitude: “Most of the people that I’ve counseled who are perpetrators of angry outbursts don’t see their anger as a serious problem in their marriage. As far as they’re concerned, the real problem is their spouse’s behavior that they think triggers their angry outbursts. ‘If she’d just stop being so annoying, I wouldn’t get angry.’ ‘If he’d be a little more thoughtful and considerate I wouldn’t lose my temper.’ In other words, most of the people who have angry outbursts feel that the other person made them do it.”
The Scripture above tells us that God does not blame others when we hurt people with our angry outbursts. No, instead He holds us accountable for our actions. Notice that Scripture does not deny that we will get angry from time to time. Anger is a human emotion and everyone feels anger from time to time. But what God will hold us responsible for is what we do with anger and when we hurt others with our anger, we are “subject” to His judgment.
So how do we overcome angry outbursts? On Sunday, we will give 4 concrete ways to stop angry outbursts as we continue the sermon series, “Lovebusters.” Hope to see you then!
