If you have ever worked with cows, horses, or family, I’m willing to guess you’ve let
your frustration show in various ways when things didn’t go exactly how you wanted them to.
Anger is one of those “acceptable” sins in our society. If we display it in moderation it’s fine; in
fact, our culture may even praise us for lashing out blindly at someone or something that dares to offend us. Let me specify here that when I say “anger,” I am talking about sinful anger, not
righteous anger. Examples of righteous anger are given in the Bible, such as God’s anger about sin. Sometimes we experience righteous anger about our own or our brother’s sin, but we need to take care to consider whether such anger stems from recognition of our own unrighteousness in the presence of a holy God, or simply our own wretched pride. Anger that originates in sinful motivations is still sinful, whether or not it appears to be justified on the surface.
Sinful anger is our “natural” anger. It’s what you feel when you think the judge made the
wrong call about you marking your bronc out. It’s what you feel when those cows want to keep
fighting you on which direction they should go. It’s what you feel toward that horse that won’t
keep his foot up so you can nail on that last shoe. It’s what you feel when your kid’s good-for-
nothing dog blows up the herd fifty feet from the corral gate, after you specifically TOLD him to
leave that disobedient so-and-so in the pickup.
I’m not saying that these things aren’t frustrating, but how we handle these problems tends to show us what’s going on in our hearts – which is the
heart of the issue.
Our hearts want to tell us we are the center of the world and I’d bet if you thought back to
times when you let your anger show or even just had those angry thoughts, you’d agree the
reason had something to do with things not going exactly how you had them in your head.
Another way to put it would be to say your pride put you in the place of God in that moment.
I’ve been there more than a few times. I’ve cussed out a bunch of cows that I was trying to
gather up because it didn’t go exactly my way – and did it go any better after that? Nope! Losing your cool while working with cows and horses usually just creates more work. But more
important than how your temper affects the animals – and people – you work with, is the fact
that you are allowing sin to have a stronghold in your life.
So how do we combat the sin of unrighteous anger? One of the primary adversaries in
this fight is our own pride. We need to realize that God is God and we are not. If we look to Scripture, Romans 9:20 for example, we are shown our place before our God. Seeing Him
correctly lets us see ourselves correctly, humbling ourselves before Him. Romans 9:20 But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?”
As we walk with Christ, we are called to recognize His rule and reign over every part of
our lives, even as our sinful flesh seeks that honor for itself. Paul, in Galatians 5:16-26, tells us to walk by the Spirit and in so doing to suppress the desires of the flesh, such as fits of anger.
Keeping our anger in check not only helps in all aspects of our daily lives, it most importantly
honors the God who saved us. As Christians, this is what our whole lives should be focused on
anyways: His honor, not our own.
Galatians 5: 16-26 16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
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