Lord, you were favorable to your land;
you restored the fortunes of Jacob.
2 You forgave the iniquity of your people;
you covered all their sin. (Selah)
3 You withdrew all your wrath;
you turned from your hot anger. (Psalm 85:1-3)
I woke up frustrated today. Well actually the frustration came when I did something out of character for me. Beyond my better judgment I reached for my phone. Typically I don’t go past a quick glance in the morning. I feel like it is better to wait until I digest some liquid courage first. Today however, I was careless. On Facebook I saw someone react negatively to a pop star calling for peace. This person and his followers then lambasted this entertainer with sarcasm and venom more aligned with a town hall meeting gone bad, then the Church of God. Normally I wouldn’t get caught up in this but the people involved were pronounced Christ followers. This is why I loathe social media at times. It brings out the worst in people.
We are sure to disagree in this life no matter what our faith is. Yet, there are certain traits of those who follow Jesus that are non-negotiable. Peace is one of these. As our savior, Jesus was constantly and uncomfortably turning the other cheek. This was a sign of confidence not weakness. We should be of the same mind. Our creator has a right to be angry, yet time and time again He has diverted His anger in favor of grace. We however can be wrong. Things that we so firmly believe and feel can be utterly flawed when examined under the claims of Christ. It is of good practice to say “maybe I’m wrong on this.”
Anger is rarely flattering. There undoubtedly are times when we should be angry, yet our all too human habit is to use it wrongly. Our default has to always be grace if we are to win this world with the love of Christ.
Matt simon blog 