Today our paragraph topic is: (Against anger).
In this paragraph Christ gives us instructions on anger. He starts out by giving those who heard him that day, a reference for his instructions. He tells them that they, of course, have heard that they should not kill. This is one of the Ten Commandments that was given to Moses and passed down through the Jewish traditions. For those, however, who were not of Jewish descent, Christ tells them that if they do kill they will be subject ot judgement. He then goes a step further and tells the crowd and us today, that whoever is angry with his brother is also liable to judgement. So Christ equates the compulsion that leads one to kill with the anger one may have against our brothers and sisters.
What is there about anger that makes us liable? Anger is a sore that if allowed to fester and grow will lead to other more serious issues. It does not heal itself and disappear. It does not transform itself into something that is helpful to us. It does not allow us to rest without compelling us to take action to appease its hunger. We maight put it aside or out of our minds for a time but it comes right back. Thoughts of injuries, hurt and pain, from years past, continue to haunt us, as though it just happened yesterday. Our minds are like computers that are given a problem to solve, revenge. If we allow it to think about the issue, it will eventually provide us with a solution. And the solution will compel us to take action to satisfy the need for revenge and the need for our own sense of justice.
So Christ is telling us here, how to save ourselves from the trap of anger. He provides us with a solution to the problem and bids us to take advantage of the opportunity to resolve the issue before it ripens into the stinch of revenge. He says, by example, that if we have an issue with our brother as we are bringing our gifts of repentence to the altar, we should leave our gift at the altar and go reconcile ourselves to our brother. He further states that we should quickly come to terms with our opponent while we are with them. This is for our benefit that we do not fall into the trap of anger and revenge and subject ourselves to the judgement of the fire of Gehenna, hell.
In this one sermon, we can find key lessons on how to live our lives today. When confronted with the opportunity to allow anger to come into our lives, we have the opportunity to expell it. We can choose not to get mad over some small situation or incident that will affect our lives. Constant practice of this principle will begin to take hold of our attitudes and build up a tolerence for peace as opposed to anger and hatred and revenge. Soon we find that we can quickly rebuke the instances of anger and build up a wall around ourselves that protects us against the daily barrage of opportunities that are thrown at us from the environment we live. Neither work or play, nor friends or associates or family begin to bother us, pushing our buttons creating anger within us. We can even begin to see how we are programed through the media to accept such values that are against the teachings of Christ and why so many people live by the teachings of the world.
Anger management is an important lesson for us to learn today. And we can reverse this and say peace management is even more necessary for us to have in our lives today. As beleivers in the word, peace is the key to receiving God's gift that came down from heaven. It is learning how to accept that gift and how to keep that gift that will lead us to a greater joy in this life and a true understanding of the everlasting joy that awaits us. Do not be delivered to the judge and to the officer and into prison, where the labor is hard and the restitution is without mercy. Turn from the ways of the world and live in peace.
In this paragraph Christ gives us instructions on anger. He starts out by giving those who heard him that day, a reference for his instructions. He tells them that they, of course, have heard that they should not kill. This is one of the Ten Commandments that was given to Moses and passed down through the Jewish traditions. For those, however, who were not of Jewish descent, Christ tells them that if they do kill they will be subject ot judgement. He then goes a step further and tells the crowd and us today, that whoever is angry with his brother is also liable to judgement. So Christ equates the compulsion that leads one to kill with the anger one may have against our brothers and sisters.
What is there about anger that makes us liable? Anger is a sore that if allowed to fester and grow will lead to other more serious issues. It does not heal itself and disappear. It does not transform itself into something that is helpful to us. It does not allow us to rest without compelling us to take action to appease its hunger. We maight put it aside or out of our minds for a time but it comes right back. Thoughts of injuries, hurt and pain, from years past, continue to haunt us, as though it just happened yesterday. Our minds are like computers that are given a problem to solve, revenge. If we allow it to think about the issue, it will eventually provide us with a solution. And the solution will compel us to take action to satisfy the need for revenge and the need for our own sense of justice.
So Christ is telling us here, how to save ourselves from the trap of anger. He provides us with a solution to the problem and bids us to take advantage of the opportunity to resolve the issue before it ripens into the stinch of revenge. He says, by example, that if we have an issue with our brother as we are bringing our gifts of repentence to the altar, we should leave our gift at the altar and go reconcile ourselves to our brother. He further states that we should quickly come to terms with our opponent while we are with them. This is for our benefit that we do not fall into the trap of anger and revenge and subject ourselves to the judgement of the fire of Gehenna, hell.
In this one sermon, we can find key lessons on how to live our lives today. When confronted with the opportunity to allow anger to come into our lives, we have the opportunity to expell it. We can choose not to get mad over some small situation or incident that will affect our lives. Constant practice of this principle will begin to take hold of our attitudes and build up a tolerence for peace as opposed to anger and hatred and revenge. Soon we find that we can quickly rebuke the instances of anger and build up a wall around ourselves that protects us against the daily barrage of opportunities that are thrown at us from the environment we live. Neither work or play, nor friends or associates or family begin to bother us, pushing our buttons creating anger within us. We can even begin to see how we are programed through the media to accept such values that are against the teachings of Christ and why so many people live by the teachings of the world.
Anger management is an important lesson for us to learn today. And we can reverse this and say peace management is even more necessary for us to have in our lives today. As beleivers in the word, peace is the key to receiving God's gift that came down from heaven. It is learning how to accept that gift and how to keep that gift that will lead us to a greater joy in this life and a true understanding of the everlasting joy that awaits us. Do not be delivered to the judge and to the officer and into prison, where the labor is hard and the restitution is without mercy. Turn from the ways of the world and live in peace.
