Responsibility (Anger)

"A man with integrity always assumes responsibility for his actions---he never blames others. True 'manhood' is a journey and not a destination. Its a lifelong process of growth and adjustment."

The quote above is an excerpt from a book I read a while ago, written by Rick Johnson entitled, "The Power of a Man." I love this quote. It is a great reminder that we will never "have it all together." As long as we live we will always learn, grow, and adjust from our mistakes.

This past week has been a very eye-opening week for me. As God does so well, He always reveals Himself and convicts, we just have to be willing to recognize and assume responsibility for our actions. This past week I was overcome by pride and anger, in regards to a particular situation.

Let me talk about anger for a moment. Angry people usually justify their anger, by saying someone or something is the cause for their anger. When we give in to anger we often focus on our own benefit, comfort, and feelings. Anger can be very selfish and prideful. If we are not careful, anger can be selfish to the point where we sometimes can not focus on a situation for it's entirety because we are so focused on ourselves. Selfish anger never helps a situation!

Consider James 1:20 (NLT) which says, "Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires." God does not want us to carelessly and thoughtlessly react emotionally in anger.

Proverbs 14:29 (NLT) says, "People with understanding control their anger; a hot temper shows great foolishness."

There is a such thing as righteous anger. However, this anger does focus itself on one's own feelings, but it focus's on the well being of others or a particular circumstance. The word righteous stands for something which is right, good, and holy. Man's actions, due to the issue of sin, are not always righteous. Only when a man's actions aligns to the Lord's will, are such actions right, good and holy.

Recognizing a wrong action is one thing, but finding the root and underlying cause for that action is another thing. Plain and simple, the underlying cause for my anger was that God was not in the equation. When I was angry not once did I stop and pray. I was too busy flirting with the second half of Proverbs 3:5, I was "leaning on my own understanding."

The anger I was experiencing was a scary and humble reminder of my past. I was reminded of past and former actions I thought I would never see again. God's grace is enough so I have overcome my past, but when I conveyed that His grace was only minor, my past became major! We can not get prideful and think that we have overcome things, when in reality His grace was the underlying cause.

"When we focus our thoughts and energy, not upon God's will for our lives, but instead upon our own unending assortments of fleshly desires, we inevitably forfeit the spiritual abundance that might otherwise be ours."--AR. Bernard

Recognize, Repent, and Return. Take Responsibility!

"In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold." (Ephesians 4:26-27).

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