Surrender Your Bitterness Series

She has met with leaders and celebrities around the world and whether or not you agree with her views you have to admit that Greta Thunberg is an angry young lady. And when i hear her speak, I kind of suspect that she is not only angry but bitter as well. Her speeches are scattered with “How Dare you”, “You have failed us” and “we will never forgive you.”

And she may be right, but I fear for Greta that her passion is damaging who she is.

We are continuing in our surrender series and over the past few weeks we have looked at how we need to surrender our wills, our speech and our anger to God. Last week Rob show us how we need to surrender to God's Design for our Lives.

This week we are picking up where I left off two weeks ago while I was speaking of surrendering our anger to God.

That week we looked at why we get angry and how we deal with that anger. But I felt like I needed to unpack a little more on that topic.

I’m sure it’s only a coincidence that anger and danger are only one letter apart, but there is a warning there.

When I was a kid one of my favourite authors was Louis L'Amour, I must have read everything that L’Amour wrote, and he gives us this warning: “Anger is a killing thing: it kills the man who angers, for each rage leaves him less than he had been before - it takes something from him.”

And it was that great philosopher, Yoda who reminds us “Fear is the path to the dark side…fear leads to anger…anger leads to hate…hate leads to suffering.”

However, the reality is that we will all get angry. As long as we are people and we live with people anger is inevitable. But it would be wise to heed the words of Aristotle, who said,

“Anybody can become angry - that is easy, but to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose, and in the right way - that is not within everybody's power and is not easy.”

Do you remember where we left off last time?

If you’re not sure, here is a recap. I finished my meesage two weeks ago by saying there are two things we need to note in Ephesians 4:26-27. First we are told, Ephesians 4:26-27 And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.” That’s telling us not to explode. And you understand that, we’ve all exploded in anger at one time or another in our lives and said and did things that we later regretted. That is what happens when we allow anger to control us instead of us controlling the anger in our lives.

But Paul doesn’t end there, he also tells us Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil. So, while most of us would agree that exploding in our anger is dangerous, Paul warns us to not implode either. In other words, don’t keep your anger bottled up.

Someone says something and because of your personality, or because you think expressing your anger is wrong you don’t say anything. You just shove it down deep inside and hope it will go away. But it doesn’t go away. What it does do though, is it festers, and it breeds resentment and bitterness.

And in the scripture that was read this morning, we heard this admonition: Ephesians 4:31-32 Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.

But the question has to be: How do we deal with our anger? How do we keep our anger from making us bitter?

The first thing that has to happen is We Need to Name It You’re not just bothered, you’re not just a little upset. When someone asks, “What’s wrong?” you don’t reply “Nothing” and shut down. Acknowledge that you are angry.

Again, we have been led to believe that to be angry is wrong, and to be angry is sinful. But the reality is that to be angry is human. We get angry when we perceive that we’ve been wronged. We get angry when we think something is unfair.

Throughout the bible we read of God getting angry for those very reasons and of Jesus getting angry. So, rather than bottling it up or denying it. Admit it. “I am angry because . . .”

The second thing after we have named it We Need to Claim It I Never thought I’d be preaching name it and claim it, but this is completely different. This is where we need to own our angry. It is so easy to tell someone “You made me angry”.