Love is... Not easily angered.
Anger is a natural human emotion. Even the girl from Enchanted got angry at one point! There are times that you will get angry in life, and anger is not necessarily a sin in itself. What you do with your anger can be a sin.
Anger is clearly a dangerous thing. There are several times where anger is mentioned in the Bible. The most known being,
"'Be angry and do not sin: do not let the sun go down on your anger, nor give place to the devil."
"Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you."
Keeping anger, like a grudge, within you can cause so much damage to yourself and others. You should forgive before the day is over because the longer you hold on to your anger the longer it will wrap it's vines around you and infect you. Anger festers over time, like an untreated wound. Yes, that is a disgusting sounding metaphor, but that is just the way it is. Anger can lead to wrath and hate.
"Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him."
In God's eyes to hate someone is the same as murdering them, just as lust after a person is adultery. To hate a person you are first angry with them, you let the anger grow and fester inside of you, and then slowly you begin to hate them. This is a sin that we need to repent for.
Another dangerous thing about hate is that it gives place for the Devil to work in your life. That little seed grows under your "fertilizer" as it dwells and the Enemy also feeds it. You give them access to your heart and emotions and are being manipulated. The subtle thoughts that are put in your mind are more damaging over time than you think. Think of it like grains of rice. You add a grain each time with each thought, they seem so small. Over time you find that "all of a sudden" you have a gallon of rice stacked up. It is important to throw out each grain of rice as it comes in, before it can add up.
Anger, as previously said, is not sin. Jesus and God both have "righteous anger" and are angry. But remember that His anger lasts but a moment but His favor lasts a lifetime. (Psalm 30:5) A brief moment of anger seems to be okay, but it is something to be careful with. We all have emotions and we all get angered at times, it is what we do with it and if we can control it and forgive - "Be angry and do not sin".
It does not say "love is never angry", because God has been angry at times, and he is love, and he is perfect. It says "Love is not easily angered". This, I believe, goes hand in hand with patience. To have the patience, forgiveness, and love to not be angry with others easily.
Think about it, how often are we mad at people? We have short and quick cuss words and names for people who anger us, "Jerk, Stupid, Idiot." (I will not go into the cussing though.) We also make the noises, "ARRGH, UGH, AAAAHH, GRRR!" I know I make these noises. When you are driving, working, at school, shopping, walking, etc. these come to mind. Any time you interact with other people there is a chance you will get angry at them because out of our pride we think that they are being stupid because they are not doing things our way (AKA the "right way") or respecting us in the way we feel that we need to be treated. Admit it, you know this to be true.
Now imagine the life of Christ, pure love in the flesh. He was beaten, mocked, spit on, glared at, probably was shoved and pushed and people would repeatedly "wag their heads" at him. He was right and perfect and knew how people should act, in our standards he had every right to be angry at these people. Yet he was not easily angered, "Father forgive them, they know not what they do." (Luke 23:34) He did not spit back, mock back, shake his fist, cuss, or scream in aggravation like we do. He was angry for a brief moment when he saw The Lords house, his Fathers house, turned into a place of business and being used the wrong way. Even after he was angry those times he forgave and continued on.
Is that our attitude? Is that my attitude?
I am still working on not being easily angered, it is far harder than it sounds... I would call quick anger "annoyance", when you roll your eyes and internally (or vocally) are upset with a person for a small thing they do, and one by one the rice stacks up. If we wish to love all people, as Christ does, than we need to work on having patience with people. Repent and forgive each time you are angered, and slowly your spirit is built up and you can notice it more quickly over time. This is strengthening your sprit, you patience, your love, and you "Christ-likeness". This is strengthening what is mean to be a "Christian".
"By this they will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."
To be like Christ (to be a disciple - to be just like your "Rabbi") is to love, and it should be noticeable. Not being angered easily is noticed in our culture, so try it out and we can draw them to Christ.
Refining the faith,
-C.A.M.
Photo Credit: Myself, http://pens4chopsticks.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d4lcl48
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