Salt in My Kitchen...series

 

 

  Salt in my Kitchen

By:

Jeanette Lockerbie

 

The Right To Be Angry

Bible Reading:

  But you have not so learned Christ, 21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: 22 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, 23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. 25 Therefore, putting away lying, "Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor," for we are members of one another. 26 "Be angry, and do not sin": do not let the sun go down on your wrath,

Ephesians 4:20-26

 

Psychologists agree, "Your children are going to make you angry." So, let's face it. That spurt of anger, according to the experts, merely marks you as "normal." It takes the Word of God, however, to tell us how to handle this anger. "When angry, do not sin: (Ephesians 4:26a, Amplified).

 

This is a tall order for even the most well-adjusted homemaker. How to do it? Well, here is one suggestion. Consider, "Am I angry at Johnny, or at what Johnny has done?" The implication of Scripture is that anger in itself is not sin. Assuredly our  sinless Lord was justifiably angry on occasion. Jesus was angry at sin. He did not "sin in anger."

 

If we can objectively separate the object of our emotions, the child, from his actions, we may have the right to be angry. We may find if we are honest that some anger will be rightly directed at ourselves. For example: A mother takes sweet little Mary visiting. The child "acts up." Mamma's pride is wounded. She lashes out in anger against Mary. Would you agree that the mother should really have been angry at herself?

 

Sensing the wrong, a Christian mother would do well to confess this, both to the Lord and to the child. Nothing will so mollify a child as the realization that grown-ups too need to pray," ...and make me a better Mommy."