Wanting To Be Angry

Wanting To Be Angry

Acts 19: ³² The assembly was in confusion: Some were shouting one thing, some another. Most of the people did not even know why they were there. ³³ The Jews in the crowd pushed Alexander to the front, and they shouted instructions to him. He motioned for silence in order to make a defense before the people. ³⁴ But when they realized he was a Jew, they all shouted in unison for about two hours: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

============

“Why is it so dismal today?” I asked. “Why is traffic so heavy today?” I asked. “Why is that guy driving so stupid?” I asked. “Why don’t they just open up some lines at this grocery store?” I asked. Each complaint was met with silence because I was by myself. If someone looked at me the wrong way, I was ready to fight.

• There were times when I wanted to be angry.
• There were times when I wanted to complain about everything.
• There were times when I wanted to be in a bad mood; even if an issue was remedied, I may have complained about how it was handled.

Many people in the angry mob didn’t even know why they were there. They just wanted to be angry and went along with the crowd. When Alexander, a Jew, tried to settle things down, the crowd saw through the ploy and shouted their allegiance to the goddess Artemis.

• GOD wants me to have peace.
• GOD wants me to investigate my rage and anger.
• GOD wants me to trade my anger in for love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control, namely the fruit of the Spirit.

Rage and anger bears no fruit. It does get someone’s attention, but should not be the method of change. GOD says “Bear fruit.” What better fruit to bear than that of the fruit of the Spirit. Many sinful situations need to be resolved in society. All situations can be resolved using the fruit of the Spirit. I am grateful JESUS used the fruit of the Spirit to save me.

• What are you angry about?
• Do you quickly get angry and stay there without remedy?
• Will you remediate your rage by applying the fruit of the Spirit today?