Part of Love

A quality of God's love has been coming up a lot over the past few days. This is God's love when we are angry. Anger can be a hard thing to overcome. In becoming a Christian I had a lot to work on and anger was by far the thing God wanted me to change.  I remember in youth group I would always talk about how anger is the thing about myself I would most like to change for the glory of God.  He wanted me to be more like him.

"The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love."
Psalm 103:8

I had no idea what slow to anger meant because I am the type of girl who isn't afraid to show her emotions especially when they are overflowing like in times of anger. So as you can imagine I wasn't exactly living the "slow to anger" lifestyle. I began to pray and James 1:19-20 became a goal for my life. "Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires." I began to listen to others more. God was teaching me not to become angry when I failed to win an argument or when I felt neglected or offended. Now I am angry when injustice and sin occur, I am angry when others are being hurt. It is amazing how much work God has done! Do I still get angry? YES! Of course I do. It wasn't until someone I am with every day told me that I handle my anger well that I realized all the work God has done over the years in regards to anger. I try not to erupt like a volcano spitting hot lava. I take the situation in, say my opinion and if it doesn't change anything just walk away and brush it off. He is changing me even when I thought there was no hope of being changed and if you struggle with anger he can change you too. We can stand together as followers of Christ and get angry at what truly matters. Things such as the injustices of sex trafficking, poverty, and many many others. Let us follow God and be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry. Let's choose love!!

He calms our raging seas.